Review: One for the Heart
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2014
A sweet, gentle look at what it is like to grow old, Hope is the story of a group of retirement home residents who are faced with the reality of making do with what little is permitted to them within the limitations of a retirement home setting that must operate under the dual pressures of state regulations and the profit principle.The characters have wonderful names:  Rose Merrywood, Martha Dearheart,  Wilma Happy (who cries all the time),  Betty Frost, Gloria Sane, Mr. Fist, Paul Mouse, Robert Bygone, who is delightful.  He keeps forgetting to put on his other shoe, and is convinced that someone keeps stealing his shoe.  There is Jake Lost, Henry Right, and the facility manager, Mr. Dry.Harold,  a dear mentally challenged young man who has been in institutions all his life, is convinced he can fly.  He also is convinced he can teach his fellow residents how to fly as well.  But to do so, he says, they must have hope.Hope.  It is interesting that he doesn't say they must they can fly, but that they must have hope.  So, Dear Readers, when next you see a lovely bird outside your window, singing a sweet song,  remember, it is hope that brought it there.This is a novella that although short, will stay with you a long time.