Something About Ed's Wife, Part I

I first met Ed’s wife when he moved in next door, it was hard not to see such a beauty, nearly six feet, with long, honey-blonde hair, and skin as perfect as any movie. Now I did not say this to my dear wife, even at thirty I was no damned fool, plus Ed was such a likable fellow, and poaching another man’s game ain’t cool. Besides, when we invited them over, Di and my wife chattered on like school girls, soon to become the fastest of friends, a permanent part of my little world. But even then something seemed to be off when I looked at Ed’s lovely wife, no one looked like that outside Hollywood, she seemed too flawless to be part of real life. Years passed and both our families had babies, my self a son Joe, and a daughter Nell. Ed and Di had two daughters of their own, countless stories of them Ed did tell. Di, it seemed, knew motherhood to a T, always knew just what her girls were needing, My wife would watch when she went over, from a first-time mother she was learning?! It wasn’t just as a mother Di excelled, in brains she seemed to exceed us all, could recite a hundred poems by rote, from beatnik musings to Troy’s tragic fall. Maybe it was this, that shocked me the most, she had no need to rely on her looks, most pretty girls seemed to have nothing else, and yet Ed’s wide could recite entire books! As the years went our kids became friends, we had outings to the local sites, Ed’s wife could answer all of their questions, and the kiddos always had a good time. When they became teens, my oldest, Joe, started dating her eldest Helena, they got married just out of college, Ed and Di were no practically in-laws. And yet through it all my sixth sense nudged me, wondering why Di seemed too good to be true, but I’d grown too old to go make new friends, so I kept to myself all of these views. Then there came so many grandchildren, get-togethers on every holiday, a very good life, I say looking back, I wished it could go forever that way. But time is a killer, and one day Ed suffered a fall at age seventy-six, the doctors looked and found a brain tumor, that had spread so wide it couldn’t be fixed. Ed and Di seemed to take the news calmly, poor Ed would pass away in four month’s time, blessed to die while sleeping peacefully in his bed with his wife by his side. The funeral was held a week later, many came to say their final farewells, later when we took Di back to her home she asked if we could come in for a spell... CONCLUDES IN PART II.