Albert has had a rough life. From growing out of poverty as a child, to losing his life savings when his identity was stolen. Every wrinkle on his face marks a chapter in his life that he will always remember. Every Whisker from his beard covers wounds once suffered from battles with his father. The struggles of his past permanently marked on his face.
Albert is now retired and living alone. His beloved wife Denice, died of lung cancer when she was only 54 years old. He had two kids Eric and Homer. Eric was a straight A student with the world ahead of him. Homer was the opposite; he didn’t do well in school and refused to work. Eric joined the army as soon as he graduated high school; unfortunately he was killed in combat. Homer dropped out of school and took a different path. A path that leads him to a life of crime, so Homer now resides in the Clark County prison.
In the old rickety home, Albert just sits hunched over with the radio on, and looking at photos and thinking of memories. Al doesn’t dwell on the past, he doesn’t hold a grudge against the man who took his life away. He doesn’t hate his father for all the beatings he suffered. He only has one true hatred. That is the fact he was never home enough to care for his ill wife and to help raise his kids.
He was too busy drowning out the pain in the local pub. Albert couldn’t deal with his struggles, how to cope with the stress of not being able to pay for his wife’s medicine. He only made enough to feed his family and to pay the bills. The house they lived in was old and rickety. Over grown weeds surrounding, ivy climbing up the broken chimney, shutters falling off and paint peeling.
Albert’s daily routine has been the same for the past seven year. But today on the five year anniversary of Eric’s passing, Al changes his way. Today he is going to the cemetery to visit his wife Denice and his first born son Eric. As Albert pushes his rusty walker through the cast iron gate, the tears start to flow. He starts to do a hobbling fast walk towards their graves. Albert slips and falls, he screams in pain, he crawls his way to the headstone and pulls himself to his knees. As he looks up into the heavens he bellows “Why couldn’t it have been me!”
The years of suffering have caught up to him, the years of being alone; the years of sorrow have turned Albert into a heap of a broken man. Al lies down at the foot of his wife’s headstone and he slowly drifts into unconsciousness. When he wakes up he is being held by his wife and son Eric. They hold Albert close as he cries and begs for forgiveness. They say in harmony, “We forgive you and we love you”. Then they get to their feet and walk away, into the light where they will now spend eternity together.