Homesick for Another World

Larry is a 64-year-old widower working at Offerings, an expensive residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities. Although he doesn’t need money, Larry enjoys spending time with people who appreciate him, and feels that his job is helping to expand his horizons. Larry is responsible for chaperoning Paul, Claude, and Francis, three men with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. Paul, the oldest, loves to make dirty jokes and puns, and has a secret stash of pornography that Larry suspects he doesn’t understand. Claude wants to be a father and tries to be as polite as possible to the people he meets. Francis, the youngest, has anxiety, and picks at his nails and skin compulsively. Although Larry is sometimes annoyed or disgusted by the three men he cares for, he is always kind to them. Larry is friendly with Marsha Mendoza, a woman 20 years his junior who also works at Offerings.

Larry’s attitude toward his late wife betrays a radically different aspect of his personality He did not love his wife. He thought she was overweight, wore too much makeup, and was superficial. Larry resented her for bringing him into her family’s business and felt emasculated when she spent her father’s money to buy gifts for herself and say they were from him. He feels grateful that his daughter, Lacey, has emptied the house of most of his wife’s belongings, and he fills the home with succulents propagated in the few china dishes Lacey left behind. Delighted by their ability to thrive in difficult conditions, he begins giving the succulents out as gifts.

Paul decides that he wants to go to Hooters for his 30^th birthday. The request causes Larry to recall his unpleasant memories of his own 50^th birthday, when his father-in-law took him to Hooters for lunch. Larry would have preferred to go to one of the nice restaurants in town, feeling that Hooters was not an appropriate place for “good” people to be. When the waitress serving them learned it was Larry’s birthday, she kissed him on the lips without asking. Larry felt embarrassed and disgusted, but said nothing so as not to insult the waitress.

Reluctantly, Larry agrees to take Paul and Claude to Hooters. When they arrive, they discover that the local Hooters is gone, having been replaced by the family-oriented chain restaurant Friendly’s. Paul is initially disappointed, but his attitude changes after he orders barbecue ribs and ice cream. When the waitress comes to sing him Happy Birthday, Paul moves to be closer to her, and Larry watches as she sings softly into his face. That night, Larry thinks about his wife in the bath. He remembers how she used to call him honey; although he hated the nickname at first, he began to crave it, and learned to hate when she used his real name. He falls asleep surrounded by his succulents.