PJ

Darrell Jr .and Glenda enjoyed a long breakfast before beginning the duty they wanted to avoid. Their father had recently passed; their mother had passed away about five years ago. ###
That morning they drove to their father’s one-story 1950’s contemporary ranch style house in Palmdale, California. Palmdale was about 50 miles outside of Los Angeles in the southern region of the Antelope Valley. More 150,000 residents call Palmdale home and seem to enjoy a pleasing quality of life in this family-oriented community.
Palmdale was the opposite of Bakersfield; it had weathered the real estate market very well and they were not considered about selling the house. Palmdale had continued to grow and didn’t have the budget problems that other California towns had. It was a quiet block, even with all the kids playing nearby. ###
This wasn’t the house they grew up in with their parents. Dad and Mom owned a ranch in Wyoming. Darrell and Glenda could not have wished for a better playground than the ranch. They rode horses, watched the local wildlife, fed the cattle, and enjoyed many evening watching the stars. ###
But as Mom and Dad became older, they sold the ranch and moved to the city for the medical amenities. Not only did they move to warmer weather but closer to Dad’s work. ###
As Darrell and Glenda walked across the sidewalk toward the house, memories overwhelmed them. Hey, Darrell, do you remember when we came home for Christmas here for the first time and joked about the lack of snow? Dad bought us snow cones at the 7-11 and told us to quit our complaining? That was the best Christmas ever. Yea, I remember, sis. Gosh, I miss him. ###
As they opened the front door, the strong smell of cooking odors and living hit them. They gave each other a furtive gaze, sighed and started going from room to room, taking in all the furnishings and trying to develop a plan.###
Glenda, why don’t you start in the living room and dining room and I’ll work on the sorting things in the kitchen? Then we’ll do the two bedrooms together and finally the basement. ###
About three hours, Darrell and Glenda finished at the same time and lingered at their father’s bedroom door. This was the most difficult part of the job- going through Dad’s personal items.
This task they knew they would need to split down the middle; neither one of them had the energy right now to get emotional. ###
They both sighed and defaulted to separate corners of the bedroom. Glenda started in the west closet. She picked up an old dusty bankers box, falling apart at the seams, certain she would find old family photos. She opened the lid, coughing at the dust in the air. Instead, she was surprised to find a contract from the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. ###
“Oh, my God! Glenda screamed at the top of her lungs, “Darrell, Darrell!”
Glenda looked over at Darrell, who was holding a Marlboro Man Thermos.
Darrell, “Did you know that Dad was really the Marlboro man?”