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.