NANOWRIMO STORY IDEA #7 A LIFE WITH MEANING

 

NANOWRIMO STORY IDEA #7

A LIFE WITH MEANING

Psychologists claim the elements that bring meaning to a person’s life are coherence, purpose, and a sense of worth. In the research interviews that produced these findings, happiness and love were not as significant as factors, even though people who are happy and in a lasting relationship live longer.

Alvin Networth was watching the PBS program “Nature” on the television when he came to realize his life had no meaning. At the time, Albert was sixty-six and living alone in a five-room bungalow in Detroit. Alvin and his deceased wife, Alberta, lived in the same house for thirty-nine years.

Alvin was a retired autoworker. His career at Chrysler began hoisting engines into vehicles. When that job became automated. Alvin drove a forklift. Alvin took an early retirement to care for Alberta. Alberta was the light in Alvin’s life. She was the only woman with whom he had had sex. In his mind, Berta was the only woman who loved and understood him.

Alberta’s death from cancer was both horrible and preventable. Alberta and her OBGYN missed the signs of her breast cancer. Alvin was with her when she died.

At her funeral service, the minister told Alberta’s family and friends that she was in a better place. During the service, Alvin held his head and cried from grief and the massive hangover from a night of mourning and drinking with his son Calvin.

Upon leaving the church, the minister took Alvin aside and offered, “Go with God. She is in heaven doing God's work.” To which Alvin answered, “Bullshit, father. Her body’s in the cold hard ground feeding worms.”

A year later, Calvin had died overseas in an automobile accident while serving in the Army. The letter from the Department of Defense said Calvin had died fighting to keep America safe. Alvin told all who would listen, Cal died for nothing.

 Alvin was halfway through a pint of Bushmills when he turned on “Nature.” The program was about the North American beaver. A rodent the narrator called “Nature’s Builders.” According to the program, a beaver dam provided the rodent with a secure place to breed and raise its young. The beaver’s dam or lodge is built using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud. Beavers chew down trees to build a dam and lodge. Beaver dams restrict water flow, forming ponds, and lodges (usually built in ponds) serve as shelters. The infrastructure created by a beaver dam in a wetland makes the beaver a keystone species because of its positive effect on others. The narrator claimed the male beaver’s life is orderly, has purpose, and matters to others in the wetland.

Alvin set his drink aside and announced, “If a fucking beaver can live a meaningful life, so can I.”