Stanley was in no mood to celebrate his birthday without his daughter. And he didn’t expect his day to take an unexpected turn when a uniformed visitor showed up at his door.
“Look at these people writing me these fake birthday greetings in flowers. All these meaningless words and not a single phone call!”.
Stanley doesn’t seem to care about being congratulated on his birthday. For him, celebrating his 100th birthday was no achievement.
“What reason is there to pat you on the back when it is the people who love you who have made this life so possible?”.
And why should Stanley be celebrating when the last person he loved had died months before?
To the town, Madeline Briere was a local policeman turned private detective who had lived a courageous life until her sudden end. To Stanley, however, she was a girl, and a very sweet one at that.
Maddie was a blessing that came into Stanley and his wife’s life after a very long wait. As a result, Maddy spent most of her youth caring for her elderly parents.
When it came time to enjoy the second half of her life after retirement, unfortunately she had a heart attack.
Stanley looked at the unopened jewellery bag lying in the corner and the unopened stack of embossed invitation cards that had been printed months ago.
Maddie had started planning and preparing the big event for her father almost a year before. She painted the house, wallpapered the kitchen, and restored all the wooden furniture in the house.
The night before his fatal heart attack, she helped Stanley get into bed and reminded him to be grateful.
“Daddy, you’ve had such a happy life! You’ve found true love, you’re very successful in your career, and you have excellent health.”
“Never mind the gloom of this world. There is still plenty of beauty to be seen. Including our trip to Paris next month!”.
She kissed him goodnight. The next morning he half-asleeply expected to hear the familiar sounds of the toaster and the coffee machine. As a matter of habit, Maddy should have rushed to the private investigator’s consulting room, but there was only radio silence in the house.
Maybe she was called in earlier on some case. That girl doesn’t know how to enjoy her retirement, does she?
Throughout the morning, Stanley walked around the porch and tried to call her several times, but there was no answer. He was relieved when he saw the police car arrive, waiting for her to come up to the porch. And that was the last time Stanley smiled.
Maddy had a stroke while working on a case in the office.
“Maddy, I miss you, my sweet warrior!” Stanley shuddered back to reality and let his grief consume him again.
There is much love to be shared in this life, even after the death of a loved one.
I had a premonition that a police car would pull up to the driveway again, and it would be her. Stanley smiled through his tears, just imagining it.
It seemed all too real. Wait, is that a real police car pulling up? Or am I hallucinating?
“Hello, Mr Bryer! Come with me. I need you to get in the car, please.”
Stanley couldn’t believe what was happening. The officer’s face seemed vaguely familiar, but he wouldn’t explain why he was here.
“I’ll explain everything. Please come to us, sir.”
The officer showed Stanley his official badge and ID card to allay his suspicions. Stanley also noticed that the officer did not hold his hand, as police officers do when trying to show firmness. Instead, he took Stanley’s hand.
“Son, I’ve seen you somewhere before, haven’t I?”
The officer didn’t answer and kept driving with Stanley in the back seat.
After about 20 minutes, a police car suddenly stopped in front of a beautiful house. The policeman helped Stanley to get out of the car and walked towards the house.
“Happy birthday, Mr Bryer!” A woman in her forties with a charming smile opened the door and immediately murmured in the officer’s ear: “Took you long enough to get here. The children were getting restless!”
The woman opened the door and a bunch of children in party hats came out from behind the sofa shouting “Happy birthday!”
Stanley was surprised and confused by the sudden cheerfulness around him. There were strings of colourful tinsel hanging on the walls, balloons and ribbons bouncing, and the five children were struggling to behave in front of Stanley.
“Mr Bryer, you may not remember, but you and I have met before. I’m Kevin Newman, and I worked with your daughter.”
“She was the best work partner I ever had. You may not know it, but she helped my family through some incredibly dark days. She even saved my life a few times!”
“Oh, hello, son!” Stanley couldn’t shake the pleasant man’s hand firmly enough. It was so nice to meet a man who could remember his daughter with him!
In the afternoon Stanley sat down for a three-hour lunch with Kevin, his wife and their five children. The food was hot and delicious, the conversation lively, and the children enjoyed Stanley’s sharp, casual wit.
Time passed and neither Stanley nor Kevin noticed the sun set in the middle of their walk down memory lane.
“It’s wonderful to know that my Maddie was so loved and appreciated! She was really special!” Stanley tries to contain the lump of emotion in his throat.
“Mr Bryer, Maddie was like the sister I never had. And the day she let out her last breath, she asked me only one thing.”
“Take care of my father,” she said. He deserves all the love in the world.”
Kevin’s wife noticed that he was distressed and intervened. “And so we would like to ask you something. Please think about it, but don’t say no just yet.”
“What is it?” Stanley was willing to give them anything they asked for.
“We have a lot of love to give. I think of you as a father and we want you to move in with us and become part of our family.”
Under normal circumstances, Stanley would have laughed and said “no” at the mere suggestion of such a move. He considered himself invincible, a man who needed no one’s favours or kindness.
But this time all he said was, “I’ll be there tomorrow.”
The whole family hugged each other.
Later that evening, Kevin’s wife brought a cake that she had completely forgotten about. It was a beautiful white two-tiered cake with “Happy birthday, Daddy!” written on it.
