Homeless – CHAPTER Epilog

They all had nerd IQ’s, well above 140 which is considered genius level. We established trusts for each of them as we’d done for Charlie’s daughters and for Toni, fulfilling my promise. The largest trust was set aside for my wonderful Jennie, the woman who’d given my life direction. The rest of the money was given away.

The constant in my life through our years together has been my wife. No matter how busy she was with the children she always found time for me—time to show me her love. Being rich helped, I’m sure, but even if we’d been poor we’d still have our love for each other.

I’m a nerd. I think and I plan—that’s what I do. Nothing ever happens to me by accident—well, almost never. Yet, I never did fully understand exactly why I returned to the parking lot for Jennie. Nor did I understand why I took her shopping, to my home, or to dinner. Maybe Jennie was right about that, after all—she was sure it had been divine intervention. All I knew was that I had been blessed by every second we spent together and would be until the day I died. No—that’s wrong. A love like ours is eternal.

Note: While this story and all the characters are fictional, all of the places—the restaurants, stores, golf courses, and even the hotel/casino in Waterloo, Iowa—do exist exactly as described. The Walmart and Home Depot where Doug first meets Jennie are in the Gator Hole Plaza in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I used people from my past life as models for those in this story. Unfortunately, I’ve had too many models for homeless Jennie and the others described in the story.