Ilike to include a few chapters here and there from my books and had notrealized I never posted any chapters from The Last Cottage.  Chapter 1 is below and in a week or so I'll addanother chapter further into the story to give you a  hint on what Maggie and Hamilton happen uponon what becomes a very unusual and unexpected first trip after Hamilton’sretirement! I hope you will enjoy this chapter and perhaps entice you to readthe rest of their story. You can find their full tale here: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Cottage-Patty-Seitz-ebook/dp/B0BY7K2VDC?ref 

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 “Where did the time go? Didn’t we just move intothe family house a few years ago? I’m not sure I’m ready for this! Are youready for this?” 

Maggie saw that look in Hamilton’s eyes thattold her he was going to ask that same question he always asked when she gotahead of herself. “Which question do you want me to answer first?” he queriedwith his usual big grin, arms crossed in front of him. 

“Oh you! You know what I mean.” 

Maggie and Hamilton Foster had been marriedfor 40 years and were every bit as much in love today as they were when theyfirst met in college in 1970. It was very close to love at first sight. Theyhad met during the second semester of their Freshman year in college at theUniversity of Akron. 

Both were taking a speech class as anelective. Hamilton had taken it just for the fun. He loved performing and hadalready signed up for the next play at the university theatre, remembering howmuch fun it was to have been in several plays when he was in high school. Hehad a special love for making people laugh and discovered that, when he forgotthe words to a solo song he was to sing in the senior musicale. Instead ofpanicking as the intro played for the third time, he had said, “Don’tworry—I’ll think of something!”  When theaudience burst into laughter, the words came flooding back, and he got astanding ovation when it was over. 

Maggie took the class because she wanted towork on her shyness. She had gone to an all-girl Catholic high school. Most ofher girlfriends did have boyfriends, but it never happened for Maggie. Everyonealways seemed to like her well enough, but the boys did not ask her out. Shecouldn’t wait to get out of high school and onto the college campus. She knewit wasn’t  going to be easy, but she wasdetermined to be more outgoing. It’s not that she felt she needed a boyfriendto be happy or fulfilled. It was more a social thing. She didn’t want to go outto parties or football games and be the only one alone. 

The class assignment was going to be adifficult one for Maggie. In 300 to 500 words, the students had to describewhich athlete they would love to be, living or dead. It had to be a shortdescription because everyone would be expected to read their choice in front ofthe class. Maggie had chosen Peggy Fleming, the 1968 Olympic ice skating championin women’s singles and three-time world champion. Maggie hadn’t been iceskating since her grade school days, but she always loved it, even though sheoften spent more time sitting on the ice than skating on it.  She had described how she viewed Miss Flemingas a ballerina on ice, which was in such sharp contrast to her clumsiness. Itfelt pretty good when the class had laughed at her comparison. The teachercommented how well she felt Maggie had described the two skaters—one soeloquent, the other quite the opposite and not being afraid to poke a littlefun at herself. 

Hamilton’s choice was quite unexpected, butone in which the entire class, including the teacher, erupted in applause andgiggles. He chose Triple Crown winner in 1973, Secretariat. His reasoning wasflawless. What other athlete could run a little less than four miles total inthree races, retire, and spend your retirement days out to pasture as a stud?  It had never occurred to the teacher to notonly state an athlete living or dead, but also human! 

“You don’t strike me as someone who would beclumsy on skates, but it was good to hear I’m not the only one,” Hamiltonquipped as he came up to Maggie before she headed out the door. He had wantedto speak to her before but didn’t know what to say or how to say it. Eventhough he had girlfriends in high school and was pretty outgoing, he alwaysfelt a little awkward around girls, at least when first meeting. He had noticedMaggie from the first day of class.  Heloved that her huge brown eyes perfectly matched her long straight hair.  It seemed to him by her demeanor that she wassomewhat shy and wondered why she would take a speech class if that was trulythe case. He hoped he would find out. 

Maggie was startled that he came up to herout of the blue, but it made her feel good. She hadn’t noticed until thatmoment how green his eyes were. He was a few inches taller than her and verylean with light brown very curly hair. She wondered if he was a runner. Shelaughed to herself that she was finding she was so curious about this boy whenshe hadn’t really noticed him before this particular day. Don’t just stand there staring at him, Maggie. Say something for cryingout loud. I hope he doesn’t read minds!  “I didn’t make that up. I was always fallingdown and never got the knack for it, even though I enjoyed it so much. I was atomboy when I was a kid. Climbing trees or playing kickball. Loved freeze tag.”Good grief, Maggie. First you saynothing, and now you can’t shut up. SHUT. UP! 

“I’m Hamilton Foster,” he grinned as he putout his hand to her in introduction. “You’re Maggie Hamilton, right? I guess ifwe get married, I’ll have to take your name,” he joked. 

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Maggielaughed. “People might think you are just trying to be funny when you have togive your full name.” 

“Yeah, never thought of that. Hey, do youhave a class right now? Would love to buy you a soda or cup of coffee. Nothingelse, though. If you’re a tea drinker, we’ll have to end things right here andnow.” 

“No more classes until 3 for me, and to behonest, I never liked tea all that much. I can drink it, but it’s coffee forme—black and strong. By the way, Hamilton is kind of an unusual first name. Isit a family name?” 

“Oh, I get that question so often, I shouldprint out a pamphlet to hand out to people,” he sighed. “It’s a funny story andshows what quirky parents I have. You see, my mom had a big celebrity crush onGeorge Hamilton. So much so, that it became a big joke when my parents weredating. Dad would often get Mom a gift, like a sweatshirt with George Hamilton’spicture on it, a framed autographed picture, a golf ball marker with his famousface. She has quite the collection. So when they married and had me, it onlyseemed natural to name me Hamilton. And before you ask, they both felt Georgewould never work because there would be no funny tale with such a common namelike George.  Of course, they neverconsidered I would have to tell the story over and over again as I grew up.” 

“I think I’m in love with your parents,”Maggie said with a big smile. “I guess it’s a good thing your mom’s crush wasnot on Arnold Schwarzenegger.”   

“Oh man, I never thought of that,” Hamiltonchuckled. “How about you? Is Maggie short for Margaret or something?” 

“No. My parents liked the name Maggie. Mymiddle name is June for my mom’s mom. She passed away about three years beforeI was born, and they were very close. I wish I could have known her. I feelblessed that I do love my name. Except when Mom would be angry at me and yell Maggie June!  I always knew I was in major trouble when sheused my full name. I don’t suppose your middle name is George?” Maggie asked. 

“You would think, but I actually don’t have amiddle name. Mom and Dad felt HamiltonFoster was a mouthful and left that part of my birth certificate blank.Even that had turned into a humorous incident. I was filling out an applicationat the bank when I opened up a savings account. Instead of leaving the middlename blank, I put capital N, capital A, without any slash mark, not eventhinking about it. The clerk looked at that and said ‘Hamilton Na Foster?’  I replied back ‘No. Hamilton Not ApplicableFoster’ with what I think was an utterly stunned look on my face that shedidn’t understand the notation.  Then Ifelt bad because she looked so embarrassed, but I apologized right way for notputting the slash mark. She started to giggle and admitted she couldn’t believeshe didn’t catch what that was. We both got to laughing, and the other clerkswere looking at us like we were drunk.” 

“WOW! You have gotten a lot of laughs out ofyour name, it would seem,” Maggie expressed. “Good thing you have inheritedyour mom and dad’s sense of humor.  I dohave one quirky thing about my family, though, not related to names at all.” 

Hamilton was very intrigued and also couldn'tbelieve how much fun he was having with Maggie, even though they had only knowneach other for all of about 20 minutes.  Is this a love-at-first-sight thing?  he wondered to himself.  He definitely knew he did not want thisafternoon to end. “Something stranger than my family? I have got to hear this!”he grinned. 

“Well, most people don’t believe this when Itell them, but not only is my birthday May 10th, but my mom, her mom, her mom’smom, and the mom before that were all born on May 10th.  I was a C-section, or I probably would nothave been born on the 10th, but it was a necessary C-section, not that Mom justinsisted I be born on that day. So when she had the choice, she just couldn'tresist. We did also know that my great grandmother was born about three weeksearly, so that one was kind of a freaky accident. We always laughed that sheknew the 10th was the day you had to be born or suffer the consequences. Itseems some were kind of accidents, but it really puts the pressure on me tohave a daughter on the 10th of May, I guess.” 

“Well, I'm not sure which of our stories isquirkier,” Hamilton laughed. “Going to have to give that some thought.” 

Maggie almost missed her 3-o’clock class thatday, as they had talked about everything from their childhood to high schoolexperiences. Maggie felt so at ease with Hamilton. It was as if her shynesscompletely melted away. They were practically inseparable after that, and over 40years later, they were still just as happy and often silly with each other asthat very first quirky day. 

“Yes, my love, I know what you mean,”Hamilton teased as he gave Maggie a hug. “Now you know my actual last day isnot for a few months yet.  We do have somedecisions to make, though.” 

“I know. It’s kind of overwhelming what weneed to do to get ready for the big day and after that,” Maggie agreed. 

“Oh Honey, it’s not going to be such a bigday. Remember we planned to go out to dinner on my last day and then just havea few friends and family over the next day for a BBQ. You promised there wouldbe no surprise parties, so you better stick to that. A promise is a promise.” 

Maggie wasn’t planning any surprises, as shehad promised.   She explained that itwasn’t a true feeling of being overwhelmed but just a little anxious aboutadjusting to this new chapter in their lives.  She had been used to being home alone duringthe day with their pup, an 8-year-old Lab named Remy they had rescued from afriend of a friend who could no longer take care of her, as he was moving toEurope for a job.  About a year ago, theyhad lost their sweet puppy girl, Bailey, to lung cancer, and Maggie was stillheartbroken over the loss. When Hamilton and Maggie went to meet this newpotential family member, Remy passed everyone and ran right up to Maggie,practically knocking her over to give her a big slurp on the face. It was as ifRemy immediately knew she had to fix Maggie’s heart. 

“No, I'm thinking more of feeling a littleanxious at having you home all day,” Maggie grinned.  “Remy is going to love it, but I'm not sureI'm ready to play tug with you or throw the ball for you and Remy to chase.” 

“No doubt, it’s going to take some gettingused to for both of us. I do have a feeling Remy won't have any problemsadjusting,” Hamilton chuckled.  “But onething, or I should say two things, we do have to work on before the big day,” Hamilton said with airquotes, “is that we have to decide where our destination is going to be for ourfirst trip PR, and are we going to stay in this house when we get back or makeour move and let the kids take over.” 

“Well, now I have two things I need to askabout that work,” Maggie replied, looking a little serious. “What is PR andwhat do you mean are we going to stay here?” 

Maggie was never big on change, although shealways handled it well when she had to. But she knew the one thing she was notready for, and possibly would never truly be ready for, was leaving the homeshe grew up in, fell in love in, marriage, children, her entire life all inthis house. She sat down on the kitchen chair a little quicker than sheintended, looking out the window with tears in her eyes.