Here's the last note I received from Bill, which I post through a tear:
Dear David: this place is the best deal available
to me. My wife made a very bad investment that
wiped out all my savings, leaving me with only
Civil Service annuity, small because I retired
after ohly 20 years because of macular degeneration.
I am very much isolated by my poor vision (can't
watch TV, can't read 9except what I am typing now)\
and can't carry on conversation except with the few
people willing to put up with my rrequent requests
for repeat. I have a cheapo Radio Shack hearing aid
which helps a lot with one person in a small room,
but in large room, like a lobby, picks up background
noise that drowns out voice of person close to me.
I'd hate it if I had any other room-mate. Tom Kelly
is an ex-Marine (Vietnam) and Hollywood stunt man.
Came from Vermont. Self enducated, but he has taught
me a lot. I need nim badly, to tell me of anouncements
I cannoty hear and cannot read. I really worried that
I may lose him before long. He has Ca of rectum with
metastases no longer controlled by radium implants.
He is refusing colostomy just because he remembers
an anut who had trouble with hers a long time ago.
I'm sure management is now far better than what waws
available to her. Most of the other residents here
are very bitter about their situation, and there is
not a single other resident I'm willingly accept as
room-mate. Thanks for remembering me, Love, Bill
