NEW BRIDGE IS YEARS OFF, BUT DEBATE IS WARMING NOW
‘When you get old, all your friends are gone,’ Edward Sicard says.
GREENACRES — Sitting in front of his two-bedroom Greenacres townhome on Fernley Drive, the one where he’s lived since the early 1980s, Edward Sicard stares intently and slowly reflects on what it’ll feel like to turn 100 on Nov. 1.
“It’s not great,” Sicard says, somewhat sharply. “When you get old, all your friends are gone. All your childhood is gone. I think it’s very distracting.”
Sicard, wearing a red T-shirt, tan pants and a blue baseball cap, said he’s been feeling this way for decades after many of his friends started passing away in their 70s and 80s.
“There’s nothing great about being old,” he says.
But even at 99, Sicard — with no teeth in his mouth — looks 20 years younger. His mind is still sharp. And he plays bridge every Monday with a group of three ladies.
“He’s wonderful, kind and generous,” says Claire Harrison, Sicard’s 91-year-old girlfriend and bridge player. “Those are three tough things for me. Many people look for looks, clothing and spending, but that’s not my concern.” Sicard sits outside every day. He waves at cars. He says hello to neighbors. He just ... sits.
When it gets too hot outside, Nhell Heilmeyer, his caregiver, brings him back inside.
“He’ll read, watch ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Dragnet,’ ” she says, laughing. “He loves all the old shows.”
That’s probably because old TV shows and movies carry memories and images that remind him of younger days.
Sicard also gets emotional. He cries at times, mostly because of memories he has of World War II, where he served as a pilot on a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
“He cries when he thinks about the wars and the deaths,” Heilmeyer says.
Sicard was born in Turners Falls, an unincorporated village in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Mass.
Sicard, who had four sisters, lived in the town until his late teens. At 16 or 17, he joined the National Guard, a reserve military force.
“My parents couldn’t afford college, so I had to get a job,” Sicard says.
He did — in 1937 on a farm where
he was paid 25 cents an hour.
But with World War II quickly approaching, Sicard’s life was about to change.
“I came down with my regiment to Miami,” he says. “I was a sergeant then. My job was at night, patrol the area.”
During the war, Sicard flew 67 missions. He remembers his last one, when about 12 pilots were flying over Germany to see if anything was moving. They came upon a refueling train, the planes lowered, then . ...
“War is hell,” Sicard says, softly. “I did whatever was necessary.”
Once the war ended in 1945, Sicard struggled to get work.
“There were no jobs left,” he says. “The government did their best to try to help.”
A college professor Sicard met got him an interview with Raytheon, a Massa- chusetts defense contractor. Sicard got the job. He worked at Raytheon for 30 years until he retired in 1982, moving to Florida.
In his near century on Earth, Sicard has had two wives (Shirley and Ella) and
In his near century on Earth, Sicard has had two wives (Shirley and Ella) and six children. He says the only child he speaks with is Teresa.
six children. He says the only child he speaks with is Teresa.
“Over the years, I talked to them very seldom,” he says. “Ed, my oldest son, would get angry at me and his mother. That’s why he went and joined the Marines to get away from us.”
Sicard’s second wife, Ella, died after a brief illness in 2014. They were married for more than 30 years.
“When she died, I wanted to die with her,” Sicard says. “My life is terrible. I just sit here all day.”
Sicard moves around slowly in his walker as his three lady friends arrive for cards. He’s asked what he’s doing on his birthday.
“I’m not doing anything,” he said. “I forbid it.”