The Light on the Sea

 This story is about an elderly man who just recently was moved into a retirement home. Many of the other individuals in the home dislike it and are not used to it. This man is very different. Before this man was moved into the home he was a teacher at the local school. He enjoyed painting with watercolors and had hundreds of canvases stored in his basement. He lived along far off the main road in the woods where the light would just barely make it through the thick vegetation. He lived alone and enjoyed being alone, away from other people. He liked the light not coming through the trees. "All those years behind those trees in that dark house. The light use to trickle through the leaves, only trickle, never flow. Mark you, I used to like it, I didn't complain. I thought the gloom was pleasant" (John Wickham, The Light on the Sea). When he had to leave his home to go to the retirement home he decided to leave all of his painting at the house. He felt relieved he was able to get about from them because he always felt that they were unfinished. "It must have been a nightmare, I said or a series of nightmares, never being able to recall the vision that started the picture" (John Wickham, The Light on the Sea). This story reminds me of the story Some People are Meant to Live Along. The man enjoys the solitude of being along and enjoys the thoughts he has. That is why he can stay in the retirement home because he is used to being lonely. Now that he is out of the gloomy forest where he used to live he can see the sunshine on the sea which brings joy and comfort to him even though he is alone with no family. 

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