Sunny View Guest Home

This story was inspired by a photo taken in 1953 in front of the “Sunny View Guest Home” in Helena, Montana. It can be seen on the web at http://www.helenahistory.org/sunnyview.htm.

How could he! Ruth was furious. She had told him specifically that she did not want to be included in the “happy group photo.” The other residents of the Sunny View Guest Home might be happy to pander to Mr. Jonathan Dumas, the tall, striking owner, by allowing their likenesses to be used to sell the lie that was Sunny View, but Ruth had standards. She sat apart from her less scrupulous house mates and was promised by Mr. Dumas that she was out of the frame. And yet when she opened the paper this morning, there was a half-page advert for Sunny View in the Helena Times that very much included her. She recalled him saying what a shame it would be to not have her lovely face included in the photo and her blood boiled. He had clearly lied to her.

As far as Ruth was concerned, the Sunny View Guest Home could not have been more of a misnomer. According to her neatly kept records, Helena, Montana received 82 days of sun in 1952. This was hardly Palm Springs. And they most certainly were not guests. Guests are those to whom hospitality and entertainment is offered, and it is assumed that they will not stay indefinitely. Alas, the “guests” at Sunny View were there for the duration. Even the ad in the paper made this clear in its fine print, which declared Sunny View a “Permanent Home for the Aged.” Ruth wondered how many of her house mates were aware that they would never be checking out. This would be the longest, dullest, and most flavorless vacation of their lives.

The unexpected shock of seeing her image associated with this den of boredom caused Ruth to reevaluate her plans. She had been planning to leave once her nephew sold the ranch, but now she was unsure she could wait. The ranch should have been hers outright, but unbeknownst to her, her late husband, Jake, had drafted a will leaving the ranch to their next male kin. Since they had no living children, the courts had determined that after Jake’s sudden death, their nephew, Christopher, should inherit the ranch. Ruth was shocked at this turn of events, but she did remember she and Jake talking about drafting the will over 50 years ago, just after she gave birth to their son. Their son had been a sickly infant and she had been so preoccupied with caring for him that she hadn’t realized that Jake had acted on their conversation. When their infant son died from tuberculosis before he even turned a year, they had been so distraught that they had never given a second thought to the will. They threw themselves into the work of maintaining the ranch, and never conceived again. When Ruth reached out to Christopher to explain all of this, he seemed to take the news in stride. He agreed that Jake would have left the ranch to Ruth had he ever revisited the will after his son’s death. He had agreed to sell the ranch and split the proceeds with Ruth. Ruth agreed to move out to facilitate the sale and everything seemed to be going according to plan, until it wasn’t. The problem was that Christopher lived in New York, and was showing himself to be a highly unmotivated seller. Ruth decided that she could be motivated enough for the both of them. If she wanted to leave Sunny View she needed money. And she needed to leave. Now.

Ruth, feeling a mix of rage and frustration, stormed into the communal parlor of the guest house. This was where the singular telephone was available for the use of residents. It goaded her that she must make private calls within possible earshot of the other residents but the parlor was thankfully empty when she entered. She picked up the handset and asked the operator to connect her to her nephew’s office line. Fortunately, he picked up the call. “This is Christopher Watkins,” he said in a polished, professional voice.

“Christopher, it’s Aunt Ruth. We need to talk about the ranch.”

“Oh, hi Aunt Ruthie. Listen, I’m really busy today. Maybe we could talk about this over the weekend?”

“No. Now you listen to me, Christopher. You don’t understand what it’s like for me here. I am surrounded by a bunch of animated corpses eating pudding. Their idea of an enriching afternoon is tea on the front lawn. I don’t like tea, Christopher. I like coffee. Cowboy coffee. And I like cowboys, and horses, and dirt under my fingernails. I feel myself getting softer and duller by the day. I agreed to move here to make it easier for you to sell the ranch. Now I need you to follow up on your end of the bargain and make the sale. Once I have my portion I can find a small piece of property and I can get back to living life – not watching it slowly leak out of old wrinkly –”

“Ruthie!” Christopher interrupted, “That’s disgusting. And don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic? I’ve seen the ads for Sunny View and it looks like a great place!”

“Don’t get me started about those damned ads!” Ruthie hollered. “They used my picture without my permission and I’m planning to sneak into the rooms of Mr. Dumas tonight to cut his laces and replace his toothpaste with my hemorrhoid cream.”

“Don’t be a menace, Aunt Ruthie! I’m working on it. I really am. I need you to be patient. My representative, Mr. Adams, is still in Billings and he won’t make it over to Helena to sign the necessary paperwork until the end of the month.”

“The end of the month!” yelled Ruth “Why can’t I serve as your representative? I could sign whatever needs to be signed tomorrow!”

“You’re not a lawyer, Aunt Ruthie and I don’t have time to find a different one.”

“What if I can find us a different lawyer? One that doesn’t visit Helena once every blue moon?”

“Listen. If you find us a lawyer that can work with us on a shorter timeframe, I’m willing to entertain a switch, but there just aren’t that many lawyers in Helena.”

“I’ll call you when I have one.”

“Fine, Aunt Ruthie. Talk to you soon. Love you.”

“Hmph. I love you too.” Ruth replaced the handset and looked around, startled to see that she was no longer alone in the parlor. Seated in one of the overstuffed armchairs in the corner of the room was none other than the current source of her greatest ire, Mr. Jonathan Dumas.

“Ruth,” Jonathan said in a quiet voice, “I am so sorry your image was included in the advertisement. I am rather unskilled with these new cameras and I really thought I’d kept you out of the frame. When the picture was developed I was surprised, but I did ask the fellow at the ad desk to edit the image. Clearly he did not, and I’m sorry.”

Ruth shifted uncomfortably wondering just how much he had overheard. She was still angry, but it occurred to her that perhaps she was merely directing her anger at this man because he was a convenient target. He wasn’t really a bad person, or even a bad manager. He was giving people without options a place to live out their days. Perhaps she was just angry that she was feeling trapped by life’s circumstances. And here was this man, nearly the same age as her, who did not seem to be trapped. He was in control of his own destiny, running a “guest home” for the elderly, and clearly did not consider himself among the “aged.” Ruth sighed. “I’m sorry for losing my temper. I am just frustrated and this place makes me feel so old!”

“I’ve never thought of you as old, Ruth,” Jonathan said in his quiet baritone. “Ever since you arrived, I’ve been grateful for the spark of life you’ve brought to the place. I know Sunny View will only be your home temporarily, and I’ll be sorry to see you go. Even if you dislike our cooking and threaten my foot comfort and oral health.” He smiled wryly.

“Oh! That was all just bluster!” Ruth rushed to say, “I hope you know I would never really – “

“I know, I know...” Jonathan laughed, “and I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop – I just wanted to let you know I’d overheard so we could clear the air. I also hope you know I really wouldn’t mind if you did come by sometime – without malicious intent.”

Ruth could feel herself starting to blush. Was this man flirting with her? It rather felt that he was. It had been years since a man had made her blush and she couldn’t quite categorize the discomfort it made her feel. She was feeling too many emotions today. She decided to deflect. “Well, if you were a lawyer, I’d make myself a regular visitor!”

“Is that so?” he asked, “well that’s interesting because while I’m no longer practicing I do still have my law license.”

“What?” Ruth exclaimed “Do you know about real estate?”

“That was actually my primary area of expertise.” He said smiling.

Ruth proceeded to explain the situation with the will, her ranch, and her nephew. Jonathan told her he was glad to help and they proceeded to call her nephew together. Christopher was only slightly surprised at the speed at which his aunt had secured a new lawyer and agreed to make the necessary arrangements to have him serve as his representative.

The ranch went up for sale only a week later, the contract carefully worded to ensure that Ruth would get her full portion of the sale.

Two weeks after that, the ranch sold to a rancher from California, who felt there were simply too many people moving into that state.

Ruth took her money and purchased a farmhouse with enough land for a big garden and one horse. She was delighted she would be able to go for her daily rides once again.

Once she was settled in her new place, she invited Jonathan over for dinner to thank him for his help. He brought her a rosebush that she could plant in her new yard. “It’s beautiful, Jonathan, thank you,” she said, “and here I am supposed to be the one doing nice things for you!”

“You already have,” he said, “You’ve reminded me the importance living life to its fullest. I want you to know that thanks to you I have instituted a number of changes at Sunny View.”

“Really?” Ruth said, a little stunned.

“Yes – it seems our activities may have been a bit dull for some, so we now have a full suite of available options, from gardening and quilting to bicycling and even snow shoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter. And we’ve spiced up our menu, though to be honest I’m not sure how well that change is being received. You would be surprised at how many people seem to dislike pepper.”

Ruth laughed, “Maybe someday I’ll be inclined to join you again!”

Jonathan smiled, “Maybe someday you’ll feel inclined to keep me company as we organize these adventures together.”

“I think I might just like that,” she said with a wink as she clinked her glass against his.