Oh, I hope Betty Grainger beats that hayseed -- I for one have had enough of hayseed politics here in the U.S. for the rest of my existence ... but it ever is that if one person in a group of friends makes a great stride forward, the other friends start remembering their old resentments ... you captured that excellently.
Poor Mrs. Caldwell ... after a year of this "new" disease traveling the world, I can imagine her anguish ... and he has to be institutionalized, on top of everything else ... the isolation, compounded ... really tugs at the heartstrings ... WELL DONE
Thank you so much for the kind words, @deeanndmathews!