Money can't buy everything
HEN the letter came from the Law School, it changed
our lives. I came third in the final examinations and
suddenly everyone wanted to offer me jobs. It was a
wonderful time. Think of it: an ail-American boy with a
famous name, third in his examinations and a Harvard
hockey player too. Crowds of people were fighting to get my
name and number on their company writing paper.
At last I accepted a job with Jonas and Marsh in New
York. I was the highest-paid graduate of my year too. After
three years of spaghetti and looking twice at every dollar, it
felt wonderful.
We moved to a beautiful flat in New York. Jonas and
Marsh's office was an easy ten-minute walk away. And there
were lots of fashionable shops nearby too. I told my wife to
get in there and start spending immediately.
'Why, Oliver?'
'Woman, you supported me for three years. Now it's my
turn!'
I joined the Harvard Club of New York. Ray Stratton was
working in New York too and we played tennis together
three times a week. My old Harvard friends discovered me
once more, and invitations arrived.
'Say no, Oliver. I don't want to spend my free time with
a lot of empty-headed preppies.'
'OK, Jen, but what shall I tell them?' 'Tell them I'm expecting a baby.'
'Are you?'
She smiled. 'No, but if we stay at home tonight, perhaps
I will.'
We already had a name for our child.
'You know,' I said one evening. 'I really like the name
Bozo.'
'You honestly want to call our child Bozo?'
'Yes. It's the name of a big sports star. He'll be
wonderfully big and strong,' I continued. 'Bozo Barrett,
Harvard's biggest football star.'
We had a name for our child and we wanted him very much.
But it's not always easy to make a baby, although we triedvery hard. Finally I became worried and we went together
to see a doctor.
Doctor Sheppard checked everything carefully. He took
some of our blood and sent it away for examination. 'We'll
know soon,' he said.
A few days later he telephoned me at my office and asked
me to visit him on my way home that evening.
'Well, Doctor,' I said, 'which of us has the problem?'
'It's Jenny,' he said. 'She will never have children.'
I was ready for this news, but it still shook me. 'Well,' I
said, 'children aren't everything.'
'Oliver,' said Doctor Sheppard, 'the problem is more
serious than that. Jenny is very ill. She has a blood disease.
It is destroying her blood, and we can't stop it. She is dying,
Oliver. I am very sorry.'
'That's impossible, Doctor,' I said. I waited for the doctor
to tell me that it was not true.
Kindly and patiently he explained again, and at last I
understood the terrible words.
'Have you spoken to Jenny, Doctor? What did you tell her?'
'I told her that you were both all right. For the moment
it's better that way.'
I wanted to shout and scream at the unfairness of it all.
Jenny was twenty-four, and she was dying. 'What can I do
to help, Doctor?' I asked at last.
'Just be natural,' he said. Natural!
I began to think about God. At first I hated Him. Then
next morning I woke up and Jenny was there beside me. Still there. I was ashamed. Thank you, God, I thought. Thank
you for letting me wake up and see Jennifer.
'Be natural,' the doctor had said. I did my best, and all the
time I was living with my terrible secret.
One day Mr Jonas called me into his office. 'Oliver, I have
an important job for you. How soon can you go to Chicago?
You can take one of the younger men with you.'
One of the younger men? I was the youngest man in the
office. I understood the message: Oliver, although you are
still only twenty-four, you are one of our top men.
'Thank you, sir,' I said, 'but I can't leave New York just
now.'
I had decided not to tell anyone about my troubles. I
wanted to keep my secret as long as possible. I could see that
old man Jonas was unhappy about my refusal.
On the way home that day I saw a notice in a travel shop
window: 'Fly to Paris!' Suddenly I remembered Jenny's
words: What about my scholarship? What about Paris?
I went into the shop and bought two tickets to Paris.
Jenny was looking grey and tired when I got home. When
I showed her the tickets, she shook her head.
'Oliver,' she said gently, 'I don't want Paris. I just want
you . . . and I want time, which you can't give me.'
Now I looked in her eyes and saw the sadness in them. We
sat there silently, holding each other. Then Jenny explained.
'I was feeling terrible. I went back to the doctor and he
told me. I'm dying.'
Now I didn't have to be 'natural' any more. We had nomore secrets from each other. Now we could discuss things
. .. things that young husbands and wives don't usually have
to discuss.
'You must be strong, Oliver,' she said. 'For Phil. It's going
to be hard for him. He needs your help. OK?'
'OK. I'll be strong,' I promised. I hoped Jenny could not
see how frightened I was.
A month later, just after dinner, Jenny was playing Chopin
on the piano. Suddenly she stopped.
'Are you rich enough to pay for a taxi?' she asked.
'Of course. Where do you want to go?'
'To the hospital.'
In the next few busy, worried moments, while I hurriedly
packed a bag, I realized. This is it, I thought. Jenny is going
to walk out of this flat and never come back. I wondered
what she was thinking. She sat there, looking straight in
front of her.
'Hey,' I said, 'is there anything special that you want to
take with you?'
'No,' she said. Then she thought again. 'Yes. You.'
The taxi-driver thought Jenny was expecting a baby. 'Is
this your first?' he asked.
I was holding Jenny in my arms, and I felt ready to
explode.
'Please, Ollie,' Jenny said to me softly. 'He's trying to be
nice to us.'
'Yes,' I told the driver. 'It's our first. And my wife isn't