Chapter 2

John sat on his folding chair occasionally sipping a glass of iced tea, watching the stars overhead. The moon wasn’t out and the stars shone brighter than normal. The Milky Way stretched across the sky. As he stared at the Milky Way, he wondered how many people had never seen it. Throughout the night, John watched a satellite move slowly across the sky.

The dogs in town barked as a truck with a hole in the muffler rumbled through town. It had to be one of the last cars running without a Fusion Battery powering it. Of course, on moonless nights, the dogs barked at everything. Earlier, John and Ed had actually heard a coyote howl in the far off distance. It was nice to sit and contemplate the universe in all its glory.

Ed returned to the parapet and sat in his chair. The two men sat quietly for a long time. John said, “You know, I came out here to write my dissertation.”

Ed laughed lightly as he said, “I remember.”

“So where are you going to go to write yours?”

Ed answered, “I was going to stay here.”

John shook his head while he said, “There’s too much going on here. I bet you would have been done with your research a year ago without all of the distractions around here. You need to find some place quiet to work.”

Ed thought about the suggestion. It was a good idea, but there was too much here that needed him. Then he realized that was John’s point. John was suggesting that he take some time for himself. “I’ll try to think of a place.”

John nodded and looked up at the sky some more. He watched as a meteorite raced across the sky. He wondered what people wished for on a falling star. He couldn’t think of anything that he could wish for that he didn’t already have. He turned to face Ed and asked, “How are your personal finances?”

Ed laughed at the question and then answered, “Great. When you told me that people would pay me to work on what I truly loved, I didn’t believe you. I still can’t believe how much consulting work I’ve gotten and I haven’t even completed my doctorate.”

“Darn it. I was hoping to give you some money for you to spend while you are writing your dissertation.”

“No need.”

“I was afraid of that. You have no idea how much work it is, to give away money to responsible people.”

Ed studied John for a couple of minutes. He knew that John was bothered by all of the money that he had to manage. He asked, “What is your most expensive project?”

John answered, “The emergency relief group. It costs five billion a year to operate.”

“Is it successful?”

“Oh, yes. We have thousands of people working for it. It has saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars.”

Ed asked, “Whose money does it save?”

“The money saved is a little difficult to place. While everyone talks about the money saved as being insurance money, most of it is actually saved by the victims. Their insurance rates go down. When there is damage, their portion of the cost is reduced.”

Ed said, “So the direct beneficiaries of your program are the people that work in it and the people that are served by it?”

“Yes.” John thought about that project. There were also secondary beneficiaries to it. They stored sufficient food to feed twenty thousand people for ten days in six major sections of the country. Twice a year, they replaced half of the stored food. This was high quality food, steaks, hamburgers, ribs, chicken, canned vegetables, canned fruits, and beverages of all kinds.

The food being replaced was cooked and served in poverty sections of major metropolitan areas over a weekend. A whole area of the city would be cordoned off. Thousands of volunteers and working employees of the program patrolled the area providing a safe environment. Bands played and local theaters put on plays generating a festival atmosphere. Cops stood in line with punks to get food. Two festivals each year, with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks provided, helped form real communities.

Ed asked, “So what is your second most expensive charity?”

John thought about it before he answered, “I guess the quick clinic program.”

Ed nodded and asked, “How’s it working?”

“Great. We have fifty clinics in poor neighborhoods. They provide basic triage for the larger hospitals. We treat minor cuts, scrapes, colds, and other simple problems. We keep a large enough staff so that waiting times are short. We’ve reduced the walk-in patient load in the major hospitals by ninety percent. Since our services are free, the costs at the hospitals are reduced. The communities now have access to good health care. Everyone has won.”

Ed suggested, “So you provide a few essential services to anyone and the results spread far beyond those people?”

John agreed, “Yes, that was the goal in setting up that one.”

Ed said, “When you set up the foundation, you had selected education, arts, crisis, health, and research as the major project areas. How are they going?”

John answered, “Health and crisis are great. I just told you about them. Research is developing slowly, but some progress is being made. Education isn’t showing much progress though. The arts are a total loss.”

“So why isn’t education showing much progress?”

John thought about it for a while. He said, “I guess that is because the people that need it the most appreciate it the least.”

“Maybe you are targeting the people in the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, with education you are trying to get kids into a program they don’t want. You are targeting public school kids with afternoon programs. They have an alternative that is just as free: television. You have a college scholarship program, but only a third of the available scholarships are actually taken. Instead, you should focus on a program that represents the only option for many people and that serves a greater need than the people involved.”

John thought about it for a minute. “I’m not sure how to put together a program like that.”

Ed asked, “How about the Indian Program that you started?”

John smiled and said, “It’s a success. William Redman’s idea of starting a free college for people of Native American descent with social programs aimed at improving conditions for their people was very good. The fact that it’s a five-year degree with courses on Native American culture, history, and religion is offset by its price. Where else can they get a full free education complete with living expenses covered?”

Ed smiled as he suggested, “So start your own university for Druids. You’re the Grand Druid and, as such, you can establish legitimacy for the Druid component. Same criteria except require that all graduates must be willing to present themselves to the Gods and Goddesses.”

John thought about it for a minute before he said, “We also need to make sure that they have a proper mindset before we admit them. It’s not a bad idea, though. I’ll have to work out some of the details.”

Ed smiled. He knew his husband would have no problem. John would think it through and one day soon there would be a new university. He would identify the level of funding necessary and then set it up over funded.

The two men turned their attention back to the stars overhead. The satellite was just about to disappear below the horizon. Their quiet time was interrupted by the arrival of Bill. “Gentlemen, I have a request.”

John turned to face Bill. He was suddenly concerned for the man. The staff very seldom made requests. The only time that they did was when something was seriously wrong. “What do you need?”

“I need some time off.”

Ed turned to Bill with concern. It was a real need; his truth sense confirmed it. He requested, “If I may ask, what is the problem?”

Bill’s voice cracked, “I’d rather not burden you with it.”

Ed realized that his statement was both true and false. Bill wanted to talk to someone, but he didn’t feel it was right to impose on his bosses with a personal problem. “I know you feel uncomfortable about bringing personal problems to us, but often times it’s nice to talk about them. We hope that you are comfortable enough here with us to honor us by sharing your problems. We can often help.”

Bill considered Ed’s statement. He wondered if he truly meant they would be honored by him just by telling about his problem. He said, “My mother has cancer. She’s been the sole caretaker of my father. He has Alzheimer’s. I need to take care of them.”

John listened carefully. The mother’s problem could be handled easily enough with their clinic here. The father was another matter. That disease would get progressively worse and could last for years. He asked, “What are your long term plans for your father?”

Bill answered, “I have no idea. I guess I’ll have to put him in a home of some kind.”

“Why don’t you open a home?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you could open a home yourself. Your father could be a patient while you run it.”

Bill heard John’s suggestion. There were so many impediments to it. He didn’t know the first thing about opening a private care facility. He had significant investments that could be used towards establishing such a business. His room and board had been provided ever since he started working here. He saved the majority of his very high salary. Still, he wasn’t sure that he could deal with the responsibilities associated with a private care facility. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“I’ll tell you what we can do. You bring your parents here. We’ll put your mother in the clinic here at the house. You move into my old house with your father. We’ll get a couple of full time assistants to help you with him. You’ll be able to leave the house and stay with your mother as much as you want. In the meantime, we’ll hire a consultant to tell us exactly what needs to be done to start a full care facility.”

Bill thought about it. He liked the idea, but he wanted to talk to his mother first and find out how she would like it. He said, “I’ll have to talk to my mother. However, I’m pretty sure she’ll want to stay there.”

John said, “Okay. You go there and talk to her. Then let us know what she’s decided. If she wants to stay there, then we adjust the plans. We can have several full-time nurses brought in to take care of her and your father. We can set up the whole house to be clinic and get your mother the best care possible.”

The offer really touched Bill quite deeply. As his voice quivered with emotion he asked, “Why are you doing this for me?”

John thought about how to answer the question. The offer came to his mind before he even considered whether he should do it or not. He replied, “I care about you and you’ve been a member of this family since it started. I’m doing this because you can use the help to get through these trying times. However, it’s also the right thing to do. You are not alone in having this problem. By helping you, I’m helping others as well.”

Bill was too choked up to answer. His eyes misted. John stood up and embraced him. As John held him tightly, Bill broke down and cried. John held him until he regained his composure. In a reassuring voice, John said, “Now, go pack your things. I’ll get a jet here to take you to your parents in Florida. You’ll be there by the morning.”

Bill stepped back and asked, “What about my duties?”

John said, “We’ll ask Jim to provide us with one of his assistants. If there is anything important they need to know, I’m sure that you’ll call them and let them know.”

“Thank you.”

Ed watched Bill walk away. He knew that Bill was going to have a rough couple of days getting things in hand. He turned to John and said, “I’ll follow him there tomorrow afternoon. He’ll need someone to interview the staff.”

John asked, “Why not go with him tonight?”

Ed knew that John was going to have a rough day tomorrow as well. He answered, “You’ll need me to interview people, tomorrow. You know that he won’t be coming back. He’s going to do what you suggested.”

John nodded after thinking about it. He said, “Okay. Check out the temporary person tomorrow. Fly there and take care of Bill. When you get back, we’ll start the search for a full time replacement. For now, we’ll consider the person to be an assistant for him until he formally makes a decision.”

Ed nodded his agreement and said, “Good. We may want to look for another person to be a full time housekeeper. Ling is pulling triple duty by handling security, assistant cook, and house cleaning. If Bill don’t come back, we can still get another assistant.”

John thought about it. “There’s another reason you want to get two more, possibly three.”

“Can’t pull the wool over your eyes.”

“Darn right. Now tell me the other reason.”

Ed laughed and said, “Since you won’t let me weasel out of telling you, I’ll put it simply. I think we need to retain a gender balance.”