Balboa Shores

Patsy Smith works head caregiver at Balboa Shores, Senior Assisted Living and Alzheimer's Facility. Having lost her husband in Desert Storm, she adopts the residents as family. Harry Howell, the newest resident, has fallen for Patsy and mistakenly believes she loves him too. His plans to marry his "darl'n" don't sit well with his only son Casey. When Casey hears about his father's intentions, he questions how well Patsy and the rest of Balboa Shores are looking out for his elderly father. Both humorous and heart-wrenching events occur frequently as a consequence of the residents' aging and dementia, Miss Millie swallows her hearing aide batteries, Fanny Gerrick is waylaid in the skilled nursing wing due to a suspicious broken hip, Beatrice wanders into other resident's rooms where she picks up things and keep them, adding to her hoard. The lives of these seniors were very different before coming to Balboa Shores. Catherine was born a privileged only child and became disillusioned early in life by a failed romance in Spain. In contrast, her best friend Sarah, grew up in a commune and spent her life as a missionary in India. Delbert, hard of hearing since childhood, never married and lived simply with his spinster sister in a small Kentucky town. Her death led to his arrival at Balboa Shores. Life and death, joy and sorrow, hate and love make up this intriguing tale of the staff and residents of Balboa Shores.

Peggy Penwell Marsh lives with her husband in Sacramento, California. She has two grown daughters to whom she is very close. A life long reader, it was on her bucket list to write a novel when she retired from teaching after 37 years. This particular theme was inspired by her interactions with her lively mother as she spent the last years of her life in an assisted living facility. Although this is a work of fiction she has drawn on her family history for some of the story lines. She has several unpublished children’s stories which she has written for her children when they were young. She occupies her time with anything creative and endeavors to keep her mind and body challenged. She would love to hear from her readers at peggymarsh44@comcast.net