The Hustings: A Family Web

Approaching age fifty, Ronnie experienced relentless anxiety. She was desperately longing for her roots, whatever those were. Currently she had no parents, a daughter who had moved to Connecticut after college, and no relatives of any significant connection. The dread of each day, the prospect of aging alone, and the lack of meaning in her daily routine overwhelmed her.

She became dependent on the medical system—doctors, psychologists, therapy, and medication. It was a virtual roller-coaster ride of emotions, and Frederick’s patience ran very thin. He was not the same gregarious man she had married. Instead, he seemed determined to have everything his own way. The trophy wife role was a demand that Ronnie could not maintain in her current state of mental anguish. He was aging and very set in his ways.

During one of the many ABS-associated trips that required Ronnie’s presence, she feigned that she was too exhausted to join Frederick. This declaration broke the final strand of patience that the man had left in him, and he stormed off for Europe without her and without a goodbye. In Ronnie’s mind, this was the perfect storm that she had unconsciously been waiting to create. Her dreams of living among the high rollers of the movie industry had taken on a new meaning. Those were empty existences. She felt a voice pulling her back to her childhood, back to the Wilmington area.