Friday, September 14, 2018
I met Rita and Phil on July 3, 2013. That was the day that I made settlement on the Regency Tower condo next to theirs. I am not a full-time resident, but would be hard pressed to say for sure if I spent more time at the condo or my home in Wilmington, DE. Over the six years since I moved into my condo, I spent hours talking with both of them on our balconies. Phil would watch out over parking lot and pool area checking for various infractions. Rita would have a calming effect on "My Phillip" as she would refer to him. Rita and I would have conversations about a host of different topics but many of the conversations somehow reflected back on time in Florida or Maine.
Rita would brag about what a good golfer Phil was in his younger days. She was proud of the fact that Phil had taught himself to become a tournament level player. This was despite the fact that he was left handed and taught himself to play right handed because they could not afford left handed clubs. Rita twice talked me into running for the Condo "Board". Both of those attempts fell short, but Rita (who I referred to as my campaign manager) as recently as three weeks ago was trying to get me to reconsider.
I was out of town and returned to hear that Phil had passed and that Rita had fallen and broken her neck. I was stunned. After checking around, I found out that she had been moved to the nursing home. I visited Rita a few times at the facility, and was surprised at how well she seemed to be doing. She showed my girlfriend (Bev) and I lots of family pictures, including her little wedding photo. The last time I visited her, she was telling me that her plans to move to a nursing facility in Illinois had hit a snag, due to county residency requirements. Each time I would leave her at the facility, I would give a gentle squeeze of her hand and a little kiss. She in turn would tell me she loved me. We both were teary eyed when it was time for me to leave.
I knew that she might be transferred to another facility due to what I thought was her improved condition. On Monday I called to see what time would be good to visit her, but the switchboard was unable to give me any information because I was not listed as a contact. The last time I had visited Rita, she gave me her cell number, and her roommate did as well. I called Rita's phone but did not get an answer. I called her roommate and she told me that she left the facility and went to the hospital so quickly on Friday that she didn't even take her phone. Again, since I was not listed as a contact person, I could not get information from the hospital. Her roommate Maureen called me to say that she had contacted a family member and was told that Rita had passed.
Rita and Phil were a loving couple who enriched my time at the Regency. While I will miss them both, it is comforting to know that Rita can once again say she is with "My Philip".
