Life’s Unexpected Twist: The 102-Year-Old’s Struggle with Depleted Retirement Savings

102-Year-Old Lady Is Stunned to Find All Her Retirement Savings Run Out

The vibrant 102-year-old Rose was looking forward to celebrating her birthday with her closest friend, Arthur, when she discovered that he had vanished from their assisted living facility. With her last few savings, she left the facility and set out on her own to find him in a different city, only to run out of money midway through her journey.

With a creak, the wooden door opened, letting a glimmer of sunlight fall on 102-year-old Rose’s hunched body as she cautiously entered the grocery store. Rose stumbled throughout the aisles, using a wooden cane for support, as customers streamed in and out.

She grabbed a bottle of water and a few different candy bars off the shelf with quivering hands, then staggered over to the register. “That would be $15, Ma’am!” chirped the business owner and cashier, Mr. Andrews, with a smile as he peered curiously down at Rose.

“$15? That’s too much. I don’t have that kind of money,” she expressed with a dejected expression. Rose realized she only had her last $5 when she went into the depths of her faded flowery purse to look for the change.

“I’ll just have the bottle of water, please,” she murmured, sadly, reaching for the cash register with her pennies. She said, “Thank you, young man!” as she walked out of the shop and sagged down on the wooden seat outside.

The smell of freshly cooked croissants from the adjacent bakery wafted into Rose’s nostrils as she stared famished. The smell was getting stronger, and Rose’s stomach growled violently, but she merely sat there, without turning to face the bakery.

Mr. Andrews was ready to end the day as he left the store at half past five in the snowy evening, rubbing his palms. His gaze landed on Rose, who was still sitting on the bench, shivering and alone, as he ran to his car in the parking lot.

She had been sitting there for the last five hours, and when Mr. Andrews occasionally glanced out his store’s glass wall, he initially paid her no attention. He had believed that Grandma was either waiting for someone or had simply retreated to the bench for a little snooze.

But when he saw Rose crying angrily, something troubled him, and he went up to her immediately. Upon noticing Rose’s tear-stained face, he felt obliged to inquire as to what was bothering her.

“Is everything alright, ma’am?” he asked, smiling pitifully as he walked up to Rose. “I saw you have been sitting here since afternoon…It’s getting late and colder…Are you waiting for someone? Is there something I could do to help you?”

Rose’s eyes were puffy and red from crying when she glanced up at Mr. Andrews. She let out a deep breath when she remembered she was still stuck in the strange city and looked about. Her eyes were always filled with tears, which frightened Mr. Andrews even more.

He sat next to Rose and inquired, in a worried tone, “Ma’am? Are you alright? Do you mind telling me why you’re crying?”

Grandma snorted and brushed away her tears. “I’ve lived through wars…seen the world change before my eyes…but now, at 102, I’m going to find my beloved…” she said.

Mr. Andrews listened intently as a solemn silence descended around him. Rose clasped her hands tightly and related the tragic event that rocked her world two days ago. “Only if I could go back in time and never let them take him…”

It was a nice afternoon on Tuesday. Rose arrived at the nursing home with her 102nd birthday cake and her favorite white tulips, her lips constantly calling out for Arthur! She was very excited!

“Arthur! Where are you? I got flowers and the cake…can’t wait to blow out the candle and make a wish!” Rose said loudly. When she didn’t see her 96-year-old best friend Arthur waiting for her in his customary location—the wooden bench on the patio with a view of the main gate—she became concerned.

Every time Rose came home after her blood tests at the neighborhood hospital, Arthur would come to her holding a bouquet of freshly picked flowers and wave like a small child. He performed it nearly every day. However, Rose realized something was off that day since Arthur had disappeared and the seat looked strangely deserted.

When she searched the garden for her friend everywhere, her heart raced with a mixture of excitement and worry. He enjoyed taking walks and spending quiet time on the lawn with her. But Rose was even more uneasy because Arthur was nowhere to be found in any of his favorite places.

She walked as quickly as her legs would allow, toward the doctors, a knot in her gut growing. Her eyes begged for information as she said, “Where is Arthur? Why isn’t he here? Have you seen him around?”

One of the doctors said, “Oh, dear, Miss Rose…Didn’t you know?” with sympathy. “A family came for him a couple of hours ago while you were at the hospital…They took Arthur with them.”

With a start, Rose asked, “Took him?” “What do you mean they took him?”

The physician answered, “Miss Rose…Arthur is no longer listed as a patient here.” “We know this is upsetting. But Arthur is now in the care of his family. He’s not going to come back.”

Rose felt a wave of anguish sweep over her, making the floor beneath her feet seem to quiver. When he was all she had, how could they take away her best friend? Where had his family been throughout those long, painful years of illness and isolation, when Rose was the only person to comfort him and hold his hand?

Rose quickly marched to her room, where she spent the bulk of her time with her beloved Arthur, since she wanted to cry by alone. She began to feel heavy with every step and was constantly reminded of her best buddy and his contagious laughter around every corner. Rose felt her heart break as all she could see around her was quiet and loneliness.

The calm air carried the aroma of the newly gathered lilies Arthur had last left in the vase. Adjacent to the vase lay a worn-out recorder that continuously recorded their beloved song, “Just the Two of Us,” which they listened to every day.

Rose went through the maze of her recollections, tears welling up in her eyes. With caution, she ran her weak fingers over the white flowers and thought of all the times she could have told Arthur how she really felt when he was there.

Rose met Arthur at the nursing home a few years ago; she had stayed single her entire life. While Rose never quite had the guts to tell Arthur how much she loved him, their friendship quickly developed into a secret love. But now, without him, it seemed as though the world was ending.

Rose was crying uncontrollably, and when she went to the table to get a tissue, she saw a piece of paper that was being kept in place with a red pen. Rose’s heart leaped and skipped a beat when she raised the card with the following message written in clumsy handwriting—it was Arthur’s favorite pen that she had given him for his birthday last summer:

“I didn’t want to leave you, dear Rose.

However, no one told me that my family was coming to get me up today.

Perhaps we’ll cross paths later on, but don’t hold your breath.

Send correspondence to Maple Avenue, Springfield, VA, 7…

Rose became uneasy and said, “Oh dear…where’s the rest of his address?” She glanced at the message again and saw the thin trail of tears that had stained Arthur’s house number’s final digits.

Rose felt a twinge of desire and resolve as she held the message near to her heart. Arthur’s sentiments for her appeared to be written incoherently on the paper. Rose knew something lovely and unsaid had blossomed between them, even if she wasn’t sure whether he felt the same way she did.

“We’ll meet on the other side? Don’t hold your breath. What does he mean by this?” Rose said. She couldn’t accept their breakup because of the underlying love and close relationship she had with her best friend. Deep down, Rose understood that she could not simply let Arthur go in that way.

She gave it some serious thinking before deciding to act independently in order to overcome the obstacles and get back together with her closest friend. Rose’s eyes moved to the burning candles and matchbox near the statue of the Virgin Mary in her room, and then it dawned on her, an ingenious plan.

After grabbing the matchbox, Rose took an iron bucket from the laundry room employees who were cleaning after supper. Rose’s face brightened up with a glimmer of hope as she waited till the following morning to carry out her plan.

When Rose checked her retirement savings the next morning, she wailed, “Oh no… How am I going to make it with only this much?” She had ran out of money and was down to her final $30. She mumbled, “I have to hurry, I don’t have time to think,” as she struck the match and lit a pile of paper in the iron bucket.

Rose slammed her room door shut and hurried to the patio while dusting her hands. “This should do it!” she exclaimed.

A few moments later, pandemonium broke out as the loud siren of the fire alarm sounded throughout the building. Startled, thinking a fire had broken out in the retirement home, elderly residents and staff hurried around. While staff and guards worked to get everyone to safety, Rose quietly apologized to everyone before sneaking out of the main gate.

Rose walked to the closest bus stop, carrying only her asthma inhaler and $30 in her pocket. Just enough money, she thought, to buy a ticket back to town. But Rose was determined to meet Arthur, even if it meant using her last few dollars to pay for a bus ticket to a place she had never been.

Purchasing a ticket, she got on the bus and said, “Springfield, please!” Rose sat silently by the window, watching the sleepy town pass by as the bus quickly drove down the street that was lit by streetlights.

She was ecstatic and could not contain her excitement at the prospect of being with her beloved Arthur again. And Rose approached the driver with the same query each time the bus pulled up to a station. “Have we reached Springfield?”

The driver answered, “Ma’am, we still have a long way to go.” “Haven’t you been to Springfield before?”

Rose nodded, her mind occupied with memories of Arthur’s laughter and his promises to bring down the skies for her. Rose was extremely exhausted and hungry, and the travel seemed to go on forever. This was the furthest she had ever been, and the ride hurt her joints and gave her nausea that made her want to puke up.

But Rose was willing to put up with everything in order to see her true love. Rose was startled awake by the vehicle a few hours later. She woke up with a start after dozing off on her seat. She heard the driver say, “Ma’am, we’re here. Aren’t you getting down?”

Rose thanked the driver and stepped down, rubbing her tired eyes. She pulled her overcoat closer to her trembling frame and peered around at random passersby and the surrounding stores, the air biting cold.

As she surveyed the area as far as her eyes could travel, Rose arched an eyebrow and asked, “Is this Springfield? But why is this town so quiet?” It everything looked so hopeless. Rose glanced at her bus ticket, which noted ‘Springfield’ prominently. When she spotted Missouri instead of Virginia, her gut told her something had gone wrong.

Rose asked one of the bus drivers at the station, “Excuse me, is this Springfield? Can you please tell me how to get to this address?” and pointed him in the direction of the location on Arthur’s paper.

“Yes, this is Springfield, Missouri…But wait a minute, lady. Looks like a mistake here…The Springfield mentioned on this address is in Virginia…Did you get down at the wrong stop or something?” said the driver.

A wave of disappointment swept over Rose, leaving a mark of agony on her face. The notion of having spent all of her remaining savings on a ticket to the incorrect city overwhelmed her.

Glancing up at the driver, Rose said, “Oh boy…I should have checked the ticket before getting on the bus…Is there any way to get to Virginia from here?” with a hint of urgency. Her dreams were crushed, though, when the driver informed her that in order to take a bus to Virginia, she would have to travel via Los Angeles.

Rose felt so disappointed. Her purse barely held $5, and now she would have to fly all the way to Los Angeles just to get to Virginia.

Rose interrupted his friend’s passionate conversation in the hopes that the driver could be of assistance. “I spent my last money on a ticket to the wrong city…damn eyesight and my old age!” Rose grumbled. “I’d be grateful to you if you could offer me a free ride to Los Angeles, young man. I have $5, but I need this money to get to Springfield.”

The driver laughed uncontrollably. “$5 for a ride to Virginia?! Well, good luck, Grandma! And No! We don’t offer free rides. The only way you’d get a free ride to Los Angeles is in an ambulance coz the nearest hospital is there…and so is the morgue!!”

The man and his companion made fun of Rose before vanishing into the throng and carrying on with their lives, abandoning the poor woman to be abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Rose turned back, her ears still ringing from the stranger’s comments, “An ambulance for a free ride? Well, why not? That gives me an idea!”

Rose was lying on the pavement with her hands clasped to her chest when chaos broke out in the bus stand. “It’s the old lady…she’s had an attack…someone, call 911,” shouted bystanders. In an attempt to receive help, she simulated a heart attack and felt terrible about playing such a cruel joke. But Rose was aware that this was her one and only opportunity to receive a free ticket to Los Angeles.

Rose was placed on a gurney and made to appear unconscious by the paramedics who arrived quickly. After being checked out at the hospital, Rose searched for a way out as the medical professionals took some crucial tests and talked about her condition.

She detested the white walls with the green drapes and the smell of disinfectant. Rose was scared when she heard the heart rate monitor beep; for a split second, she thought she was actually having a heart attack and would soon pass away. She had gone too far with her deception and ended herself at the emergency room!

Rose thought, “Jesus, please pardon me!” She had to wait a long time alone in the ward as the nurses and physicians took turns working shifts. Rose swiftly and stealthily left the hospital, thinking that no one else was present, and made her way towards the street.

Rose was alone in this strange city and didn’t have a phone with her. She was also unaccustomed to smartphones and Google Maps, even if she did own one. It was a hot afternoon as she strolled around the streets, unsure of who to approach or where to go. And she was really hungry.

Rose was aware that using those $5 would make her trip to Springfield more difficult. She didn’t want to beg money from random strangers because she was too innocent to ask for assistance. She made an effort to cope, but when she was unable to walk, she went straight to the grocery store and spent the $5 buying whatever she could.

Mr. Andrews’ eyes got wet as Rose concluded her narrative, “And that’s how I made it to Los Angeles…and your store!” “But now, I have only one dollar in my pocket. I don’t know how I’m going to make it to Springfield and find my Arthur. My legs are too weak to carry me around, and I don’t have much time left…”

Grinning, Mr. Andrews requested Rose to present Arthur’s note to him. He studied it intently, then his smile grew wider. Rose stared in shock as he quickly scrawled something on a chart paper with a marker.

She said inquisitively, “What are you doing?”

Rose was unaware of the meaning of the words “Closed For 2 Days!” until Mr. Andrews opened his store and came back a short while later carrying a bag. Mr. Andrews had written the final word on the paper and showed it to her. Grinning, he approached her after adhering the chart to the “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign on his store’s front door.

“Permit me to assist you, Grandma!” exclaimed Mr. Andrews. “Here, I brought some biscuits and cake for you. Even I have a granny at home, and you remind me of her! I’ll take you to Springfield and help you find Arthur! Get in my car!”

“Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you, dear! Thank you! But I don’t have anything to give you,” shrieked Rose like a small child as Mr. Andrews grinned and assisted her into his SUV. “You are taking me to Springfield..to..to Virginia? Oh my God.”

Rose’s eyes brimmed with anticipation and tears at the prospect of seeing Arthur once more as each mile went by. She said very little and answered Mr. Andrews’s questions with a serious nod.

“Are you going to tell him you love him at last?” he said of her as he became proficient with the wheel.

With a little smile on her lips, Rose nodded.

“And what after that? Will he say yes? I bet he will, for sure! He loves you… That man sounds like a classic romantic!” Mr. Andrews laughed.

Rose gave another nod. And on this occasion, her eyes gleamed with happiness and her cheeks turned a deep scarlet.

They finally arrived in Virginia after what seemed like a lifetime while traveling. Rose was in awe of the gorgeous scenery and verdant woodlands that surrounded her as soon as she got out of the automobile.

“I’m sure this is the kind of place my Arthur would live in…I know he’s somewhere near me…I can feel his presence…” she wept.

“Ah, well, Miss Rose! The address should be around here somewhere. I checked on my phone, and if I’m guessing it right, we are on the same street where your Arthur lives!” said Mr. Andrews.

“But the only problem is…we don’t know the exact house number. It is blurred on the note, and there are hundreds of houses here. What do we do now? Maybe inquire in the shops and knock around the houses, asking for Arthur? You don’t even have his photo, and I guess our search is gonna take time. But it’s worth a shot! Let’s do it!”

Rose grinned, giddy with anticipation. She said, “I have an idea!” as Mr. Andrews gave her a startled, large-eyed stare. “Can you play the song, ‘Just the Two of Us’ loudly on your car stereo?”

Mr. Andrews’s eyebrows went upwards in shock. Tears filled his eyes as he realized how crazy and devoted this older woman was to her beloved. “All right, let’s get started!” he exclaimed.

While they were driving across the streets, Mr. Andrews turned on the music in his automobile. As Rose excitedly peered out the windows on either side in the hopes of seeing Arthur somewhere along the journey, the music penetrated the atmosphere.

Mr. Andrews screamed eagerly to her, “Did you hear that?!” and pulled over as they were crossing a home. Rose recognized that voice, and her heart began to race like horses in her breast.

She said, “Yes! Yes, I did!” as she got out of the car and turned around, her eyes full with tears. Arthur was present! With his arms out, he sprinted towards her and yelled only one name: Rose!

The reunion of the two sweethearts brought Mr. Andrews to tears. When Arthur kissed Rose and put the wedding ring on her finger at their beach-themed nuptials a week later, he broke down in tears once more! The bridesman, Mr. Andrews, was happy to accompany Rose down the aisle!

Rose and Arthur, newlyweds, were aware of their limited time on earth. But they also made a vow to one another that they would love one other unconditionally until the day they died and spend every moment of their lives together, happily ever after, regardless of what obstacles they had to overcome!

What lessons may we draw from this tale?

• Keep your hope alive throughout the darkest moments because even the deepest tunnel can be illuminated by a little flare of light. Even though Rose was old and on her last dollar, she persisted in trying to track down and reconcile with her lover Arthur.

• Never be reluctant to offer assistance to others, since even a modest deed of kindness can have a profound effect on their lives. Mr. Andrews made the extra effort to drive Rose to Springfield and assist her in getting back in touch with her sweetheart and best friend, Arthur, after hearing her story.