Wasted Years

Elizabeth Bane sat in the waiting room, tapping her walker impatiently. If the doctor ordered one more test, she would spit in his face. She was sick of this. She had a metal pin put in her hip after the last fall. Except for some weakness in the leg and slightly slurred speech every now and again she was fine. She kept telling the doctors to take their tests and shove them. She realized she was lucky to be alive at 150 years old.

“Mrs. Bane, the doctor will see you now,” a pretty blonde nurse said, offering a hand to help her up. Elizabeth swatted it away.

“I can get up fine on my own, thank you very much,” she snapped, pulling herself up. This contraption was a pain. She did fine with a cane, but they took it away after her surgery. An intern made a joke about her being part cyborg with the metal pin in her, and she hit him with the cane. She didn’t think it was funny. This whole new century thing about being “politically correct” was for the birds.

The nurse did not lead her to the usual examination room, but took her directly to the doctor’s office. Good, maybe they ran out of tests. She was convinced the doctors were experimenting on her with all of their fancy machines and computers. She shuddered slightly. Maybe the intern was right. Maybe they were planning to put more gadgets in her; to make her like one of the aliens on those shows Mr. Robinson liked to watch on the Science Fiction channel. She would have to stay on guard.

The doctor looked up and smiled. “Mrs. Robinson, thank you for coming in. Please, sit down,” he got up and pulled out a chair for her. She smiled, allowing him to help her in the chair. There were so few gentlemen left these days and she was always willing to accept charity from them, especially the handsome ones. She felt a twinge of envy when the light glinted from his wedding band. Well, she thought, he had a lucky lady at home. She wished she could have found someone like that when she was young. Hubert was a good for nothing louse. It’s a pity he kept right on living until she was too old to remarry. Mother told her she would never amount to anything marrying a farmer. She should have listened. Dr. Landrum interrupted her internal pity party over a wasted youth.

“Mrs. Bane, we’ve run all of the tests we can and believe we’ve found the cause of your leg weakness and slurred speech.”

“It’s old age, doctor. What more could it be? But at least you finished running tests on me. I was starting to wonder if you were going to make me part robot.”

Dr. Landrum laughed, but it sounded forced. He looked at the papers in her thick chart, then stared her in the eye. “Mrs. Bane, there is an explanation for what’s happened to you. I’m afraid you have ALS.”

She started at him blankly. “ALS? I sure miss the days when they put things in plain English.”

“Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It’s also known as Lou Gehrigs Disease.”

Elizabeth jumped slightly. She knew exactly what that was. Her neighbor at the homeplace had it. Mable was confined to bed for five years until pneumonia finally took her. She remembered the look of agony in Mable’s eyes, like she was completely aware of the hell she was living in. It was horrible; and now it was her fate. She let out a bitter laugh.

“What does it matter? I’ve had a miserable life and now I can die a miserable death.”

“Mrs. Bane, this isn’t a death sentence.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, have you come up with a cure for this?”

Dr. Landrum shook his head. “Not a cure. There are medications that might be able to slow down the progression, and with physical and speech therapy you can stay functional for a while.” He closed the file and rested his hands on top of it. “Frankly, I can’t give you any guarantees. I can tell you that you won’t die of this disease. Nobody does. I don’t have any experience working with patients that are 150 years old. You’re in remarkably good health, and I think my treatment plan could be beneficial. All things considered, I’d say you’re a very lucky woman.”

Elizabeth pulled herself up with her walker. Her patience for this man had run out. “Like I said, I’ve had a miserable life and it just got worse. Thanks for nothing.”

“Mrs. Bane, what about the treatments?”

“You can stick them where the sun doesn’t shine,” she said, hobbling out the door.

She pushed her squeaky walker up the hall toward the exit. The van would be here soon to take her back to the nursing home. A glance at a clock on the wall told her it was almost three o’clock. With any luck, she’d be back in time to watch her favorite talk show. Today’s show was supposed to be about revealing devastating secrets to your lover. Maybe there would be a fight.

She bumped into a young, dark skinned woman in a nurse uniform. She backed up slightly. “Excuse me. Crazy old woman coming through.”

“Not crazy, just cursed,” the woman said.

Elizabeth turned. “I beg your pardon?”

The woman took her arm and led her into an examination room. “This way. Your examination isn’t over.”

Elizabeth trembled. “Who are you? Let go of me or I’ll scream!”

The woman gave a bright smile as she closed the door. “No you won’t. I’m the only hope you’ve got.”

“What do you mean?”

The woman helped Elizabeth on the examination table and sat on a stool. “Amazing. I never thought it was possible but I’m staring it right in the face.”

“Staring what right in the face?”

The woman offered her hand. “I’m sorry, you asked for my name. I’m Annabelle Ryland.”

Elizabeth practically fell off the table. “No! It’s not possible! Get away from me!” she screamed, reaching for her walker. In her haste, she slipped. Annabelle caught her.

“Mrs. Bane, calm down.”

“You can’t still be alive! There’s no way!”

“You’re right! There’s not!”

Elizabeth sat back on the table. “Then what are you?”

“I’m Annabelle Ryland, the great-great granddaughter of your former housekeeper.” She smiled. “I was named after her.”

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t do rubbish like that. You’ll give an old woman a heart attack.”

“I doubt that,” Annabelle said. “After all, you can’t die.”

Elizabeth snorted.

“Look,” Annabelle said, sitting across from Elizabeth. “I know about the curse Grandmammy put on you.”

“You know nothing!” Elizabeth shouted, rising from her seat. She would have jumped to the floor if it wouldn’t have risked another injury that would land her under the care of an incompetent hospital staff and smart mouthed interns.

“I know it worked!” Annabelle shouted back. “The proof is right in front of me!”

Elizabeth settled in her seat, remembering that day almost 130 years ago. Hard times forced Hubert to let most of his hired hands go, so she had to help with canning vegetables for the coming winter. She came in hot and tired, to find the house a disaster and five year old Edward screaming on the floor.

“What’s going on?” she shouted.

Annabelle rushed through the kitchen. “I’m sorry Miss! Little Edward has been fussy today. I think he might be sick. I’ve been tending to him all day and didn’t have a chance to finish cleaning the kitchen or start supper. I’ll get right to it.”

“I hired you to keep my house; not to play with my son!”

“Ma’am, I wasn’t playing with him. He feels feverish. I think you should call the doctor.”

Elizabeth felt Edward’s head. He did feel slightly hot. Perhaps it was a cold. She’d call the doctor in the morning if he wasn’t better. She gave him a bath and told him to stay in bed until supper was ready. Then she stormed into the kitchen. Annabelle looked up from her supper preparations. “How is little Edward?”

“Why didn’t you call me as soon as you realized he was sick? Are you stupid?”

Annabelle put her hands on her hips. “I did try to get you, but you told me to get out of the workshop. You said you were not to be disturbed under any circumstances. I figured I should keep him comfortable until you came in.”

“You figured wrong,” Elizabeth fumed. “I hired you to keep my house, not my family. You should have told me there was an emergency with Edward. I would have come right away.”

“You told me I was here to handle the household while you helped Mr. Bane with the farm.”

“I said you are here to handle the house, not the household. I’m capable of taking care of my own family. What do you know of taking care of children? You don’t have any.”

“Ma’am, I just thought …”

“Well you shouldn’t have!” Elizabeth screamed. She rubbed her head. “I should have known better than to hire a stupid girl to do a woman’s work.”

Annabelle stood up straight. “I’ve been hard working and loyal since Edward was born. You never expressed any dissatisfaction with my work.”

Elizabeth motioned around the dirty kitchen. “This is unacceptable, and now you have crossed the line. I don’t want you in my home anymore. Get out; you’re fired.”

“I beg your pardon ma’am?”

Elizabeth grabbed Annabelle’s arm and threw her to the ground outside the back door. “I said get out of my home! Get away from my husband and son! Get out of my life you worthless piece of trash!”

Annabelle stood and calmly brushed off her dress. She glared at Elizabeth. “You are the most miserable human being I’ve ever met. All you do is complain. You find misery in everything.”

“My life isn’t easy, especially with garbage like you making it difficult!”

Annabelle made a strange gesture toward Elizabeth. “Your misery is your curse. You will never find the rest of death until you find the joy in life. All of your years will be wasted.”

“Silly hocus pocus. Go crawl back in the hole you came out of,” Elizabeth said, slamming the door.

The next day Hubert found a dead rabbit hanging from their porch banister and a strange bag with dirt and odd bones in it. They had no proof that Annabelle was responsible for it, but the sheriff talked to her and they never heard from Annabelle Ryland again. They hired a new housekeeper, one with experience handling children. She wasn’t much better, but she did keep the kitchen clean and had enough sense to help Elizabeth with Edward from time to time.

“Mrs. Bane,” Annabelle said, breaking her reminiscing. “I know what happened. Grandmammy wrote about it in her journal. Our family has been keeping an eye on you over the years.”

“How very kind of you,” Elizabeth said, getting off the table and grabbing her walker. “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it’s not. I have enough problems without that silly hocus pocus from two lifetimes ago coming back to haunt me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a talk show to watch. I’d like to make the most of what little of this miserable life I have left.”

“Mrs. Bane, I know you have ALS.”

“Then you are much smarter than your Grandmammy was,” Elizabeth said.

“I also know it’s not fatal,” Annabelle said, grabbing Elizabeth’s walker. “You’re cognitive functions will remain perfectly intact. It’s just your body that will fail. If you don’t break this curse before you lose your motor functions, you’ll be doomed to live as a prisoner of your own body forever.”

“Nobody gets out of this life alive. I might be unusual, but I’m not immortal. Eventually something will get me. My body will wear out.”

Annabelle looked deep into Elizabeth’s eyes. “Do you really want to take that chance?”

Elizabeth made her way to the end of the hall and settled in a chair. A tear was running down her cheek. “I don’t know what to do.”

Annabelle pulled a newspaper clipping from her pocket. “I cut this out of last Sunday’s newspaper. Perhaps this is your chance to make things right.”

Elizabeth took the newspaper clipping with a trembling hand. There was a picture of a handsome young man with a beautiful young woman. The article read:

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bane are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter, Ms. Denise Bane, to Mr. Tony Rosenbaugh, son of Dr. and Mrs. Christopher Rosenbaugh. The wedding will be held at Hope Lutheran Church next Saturday. The rehearsal dinner will be held this Friday in the church assembly room at 7:00 P.M.

“What’s this?” Elizabeth asked.

Annabelle smiled. “It’s your family. Denise is your great-great-great granddaughter. Your whole family will be at this rehearsal dinner Friday night. It’s a chance to reconnect with your family and make things right.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t. It’s been so long. I haven’t seen Jacob since he was a boy.” She stared at the picture. “I don’t even know this young woman.”

“Now’s your chance to meet her. Mrs. Bane, don’t let this opportunity slip away.”

Elizabeth handed the paper back. “It’s too late. Nobody cares.”

“You never know unless you try,” Annabelle said. She folded the paper and stuck it in Elizabeth’s purse. “I’m showing you an open door. You have to choose to go through it.”

“Why are you doing this?” Elizabeth asked.

Annabelle sighed. “Many in our family don’t agree with what Grandmammy did to you. We’ve spent years trying to figure out a way to remove this curse, with no luck. It looks like the only way out is for you to follow it through and find the joy you’ve been missing all of these years. This could be what you need. What can bring greater joy than family?”

Elizabeth snorted. “Or greater misery. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones with a big, happy family.”

Annabelle stood. “Living a good life isn’t about luck. It’s about seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them. Anything worth having takes time and effort to make it work out.” Annabelle winked. “I’ve shown you the open door. Opportunity’s knocking. It’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”




Elizabeth struggled to get out of the car. Getting to the rehearsal dinner proved to be more difficult than she imagined. The van for the nursing home didn’t run after 6:00 P.M. and the home wasn’t able to find a driver willing to work late on a Friday night. A nurse drove her to Hope Lutheran Church with a promise that somebody would drive her back to the nursing home once the dinner was over. She was still unsure about this. It had been so long since she talked to anybody in the family.

“Mrs. Bane?” a young woman approached from the church, wearing a white dress with pink flowers.

Elizabeth nodded. “That’s me.”

The woman shook her hand. “I’m Caitlyn Bane. I’m Richard Bane’s wife.”

Elizabeth stared at her blankly. The Bane’s had blonde hair and blue eyes, but this woman was a brown eyed brunette. Elizabeth grunted. Leave it to the men in the family to mess up everything, even the gene pool.

Caitlyn backed away at the cold reception as the nurse pulled Mrs. Bane’s walker out of the trunk. “Do you have a way to get her back to the nursing home?”

Caitlyn nodded. “I’ll bring her back. Thanks so much.”

The nurse nodded and drove off in a cloud of exhaust.

Caitlyn turned to Elizabeth. “Come on; let’s get out of this heat. Summers get awfully hot here, don’t they?”

“If you say so,” Elizabeth grunted. The new dress she got for this occasion pinched and her stockings were itchy.
She was already wondering if she wouldn’t be better off at the nursing home. At least they had Bingo on Friday nights.

Caitlyn put her hand on Elizabeth’s walker and stopped in front of the door. “Mrs. Bane, I know you’ve been estranged from the family for along time. I appreciate you coming, and I know the family will be glad to see you.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

Caitlyn opened the door to the clatter of silverware and dishes. Caitlyn lead Elizabeth to the head table. The young couple sat in the middle of the table, with an older couple sitting on each side of them. A balding man sitting next to the bride to be stood up. “MawMaw?”

Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide. “Jacob?”

He walked around the table and hugged her. “You’re still alive! It’s good to see you!”

Elizabeth stood in shock a moment, then wrapped her arms around him. “It’s good to see you too Jacob.”

He pulled back and looked at her. “I thought you were dead!”

She shook her head. “I’m still kicking around.”

Jacob looked at Caitlyn. “How did you find her?”

“A nurse at her doctor’s office is our neighbor. Last week she asked if I was related to Elizabeth Bane. I asked Richard and he said yes, that was his great-great-great grandmother. Frankly, I thought it was unlikely that it could be the same person, but Annabelle was convinced and begged me to let her come to the dinner tonight.”

“So that’s how she found me!” Elizabeth said.

“MawMaw, why didn’t you call us?” Jacob asked. “We never heard from you after you went in the nursing home. You must have known that we thought you died?”

Elizabeth bristled. “Why didn’t you call me? Your father put me in that nursing home forty five years ago! I haven’t gone anywhere!”

Caitlyn got between them. “Let Mrs. Bane meet more of the family. We can talk after dinner.”

Jacob glared first at Elizabeth, then at Caitlyn. “You’re right. What’s done is done. Tonight is for Denise and Tony.”




The dinner ended two hours later. Elizabeth was shocked by it all. Weddings sure were big productions now. She remembered her own modest wedding ceremony. There weren’t any newspaper announcements, fancy dresses, bridesmaids, dinners, cakes and gifts. Just the pastor, their parents, Hubert’s sister and brother-in-law and the church piano player.

Caitlyn saw the rest of the guests off, locked the church, and lead Elizabeth and Jacob to an office at the back of the building. Elizabeth was shocked when she walked in the room and saw the name plate that proudly read: Pastor Caitlyn Shull Bane. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “You’re a pastor?”

Caitlyn nodded. “I’m performing the ceremony tomorrow.”

Elizabeth settled in a chair near the desk. “Women have no place in the pulpit.”

“Then convert to Catholicism,” Caitlyn said, settling in the large chair behind the desk. “You were on the verge of an argument. What happened?”

Elizabeth shook a gnarled finger at Jacob. “His father stuck me in a nursing home to die! He cut me off!”

“That’s not true!” Jacob said. “You cut us off! We never heard from you after you moved in there. You didn’t even
come to Daddy’s funeral!”

“How was I supposed to, being trapped in that place?!”

Caitlyn banged her hands on the desk. “Stop! I’m not here to mediate a fight. I’m here to do a favor for a friend and to help Denise and Tony have a beautiful wedding. If we can’t resolve this let’s find a tentative truce that will last through tomorrow!”

The room settled in silence for a moment. Finally, Elizabeth spoke up.

“Forty five years ago, Jacob’s father and I got in a fight. He wanted to sell the home place. We weren’t farming anymore, and a developer offered us a lot of money to buy the land. I wanted to keep it and let it be distributed down through the family; to let our heirs take it over and build their own homes. Jacob’s father thought it was foolish to keep it and wanted the money.” She shrugged. “Unfortunately, Hubert didn’t deed the land to me when he died. The louse passed it down to Edward, who passed it down to his son, and so on. Women weren’t landowners in that day and time. It turns out that Jacob’s father had the rights to the place. So he sold it.” Elizabeth paused a moment. “I had nowhere to go. I was a hundred and five years old at the time. I was moved into the nursing home and the family home place is now Golden Farm’s Estates.”

Caitlyn nodded. “Did you have any contact with the family after you moved in the nursing home?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I lost my home and my family. I wasn’t first priority in anybody’s life. I never was and I realized with the sale of the home place that I never would be. I’d always be a nasty afterthought.”

Jacob sat up straight. “What about the rest of the family? Did it ever occur to you that other people have a life and concerns of their own? Or are you too selfish to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around you?” He slumped. “The old stories are right. You’re under a curse alright, but I don’t think it’s from an old witch that worked as your housekeeper. I think it’s a curse of your own making.”

Caitlyn sighed. “This is the problem with humanity. We look to other people and situations for happiness. We say we would be happy if this person would change, or that situation would change. These assumptions cause us to forget our place in creation. The truth is that the key to joy is found within us. We were created to contribute to the world, not to control it. We can’t change people or situations any more than we can change the rising and setting of the sun. Can you imagine how much better the world would be if we would accept and respect one another as we are, without judgment? Can you imagine how much better our lives would be if we learned to work with the situations we face without complaining about what’s right or fair? We want to be in control and we keep fighting for it, from Adam and Eve right through today. It’s a cycle without end, and it’s sad. Joy is within us and most of us don’t even realize it.” She shrugged. “But what do I know? I’m just a human being.”

Elizabeth and Jacob stared at Caitlyn in shock. Finally, Jacob spoke. “I’m sorry MawMaw. I should have called. I thought you agreed to the sale and changed your mind afterwards. Dad never told us you were opposed from the beginning.”

Elizabeth sighed. “I’m sorry too. I guess it wasn’t right of me to assume you shared your father’s attitude.”

Caitlyn smiled. “If it makes either of you feel better, Richard and I live in Golden Farm’s. So family is still on the land.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I better get back to the home. They’ll think I wandered off.” She chuckled. “Not that any of them would worry overmuch about that!”

Jacob stood. “It’s getting late. I’ll take you back. Caitlyn, go home to your family,” he winked. “You have a big day tomorrow too.”

Caitlyn stood and hugged each of them. “Thank you both. I think tomorrow will be a special day for a lot of people.”




Saturday passed in a whirlwind of activity. Elizabeth was even more shocked by the amount of activity it took to put on a wedding. A woman pinned a beautiful white corsage to Elizabeth’s dress and whisked her to the bridal room, where Denise, Caitlyn, Jacob’s wife, and several young bridesmaids bustled about – doing makeup, pinning up curls, zipping dresses, and fiddling with bouquets of pink lilies. Caitlyn brought two young children to Elizabeth. “Mrs. Bane, I’d like you to meet Kieran and Kayla Bane. They’re mine and Richard’s children,” she turned to the children. “Mrs. Bane is your great-great-great-great grandmother!”

The children gaped in shock. “I don’t know anybody with a grandma that is great four times!” the girl burst out.

The room erupted in laughter as Elizabeth swiped a tear, overwhelmed to be sitting in a room with the fifth and sixth generations of her family. “Twins eh? And blonde as can be!”

Caitlyn smiled. “It’s amazing!” She patted them on the back. “They’re the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl.”

The woman that pinned Elizabeth’s corsage on rushed in the room. “It’s time! Line up for the procession!”

Soon everybody was filing out of the room. A handsome gentleman escorted Elizabeth to a seat on the front pew with Jacob’s wife and mother. The ceremony was beautiful and was followed by pictures and a party the likes of which Elizabeth had never seen. She was overwhelmed by the flash of cameras, food and drink, and lively music. She even got to dance with Jacob and little Kieran – as best as she could with her cyborg hip pin. Just before Tony and Denise left at the end of the evening, Elizabeth caught sight of Annabelle and hobbled over. Annabelle smiled.

“Mrs. Bane, I’m so glad to see you having a good time!” She hugged Elizabeth. Elizabeth squeezed her back.

“Thank you so much dear, for everything. This has been wonderful. Now I regret all of the years wasted in anger.”
Annabelle laughed. “It doesn’t matter! What matters is that you’ve found joy. Have fun tonight and may these memories sustain you!”

Elizabeth grew serious. “I’m so sorry for how I treated your great-great grandmother. She was right; I was trapped in my own misery. I should have slowed down and appreciated my blessings.” She motioned around the room. “I have a family to be proud of. I want to enjoy them while I still can.”

Annabelle patted Elizabeth’s shoulders. “I’m sorry for that curse. You didn’t deserve it. I’m just glad that you’re on the path to finding freedom from it.” She looked over her shoulder. “The happy couple is getting ready to leave. Let’s see them off together!”

“It would be my pleasure to do that with you!” Elizabeth said as Annabelle helped her to the door.




Annabelle knelt and placed a vase of white roses on the grave. Her breath blew out in clouds of steam as she pulled her coat closer to her. She swiped a tear from her eye as she read the inscription on the tombstone:

Elizabeth Marie Garret Bane

January 5, 1859 – January 5, 2010

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7

Elizabeth did fight the good fight and in the end, she kept the faith. They found her lying in bed on the morning of her 151st birthday, resting her hands on a framed picture of the Bane family at Tony and Denise’s wedding. Elizabeth had grown close to the family and to Annabelle in the past seven months. It was a shame they didn’t meet sooner, but she supposed they met at just the right time.

Annabelle couldn’t help but smile despite her sorrow. Elizabath Bane was free of her curse. Now, Annabelle was free as well.

Word Count: 4,585