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MASSARO: Widow still fights urge to blame herself for her husband's death

By Gary Massaro, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 29, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Eddie and Viola Solano

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Eddie and Viola Solano

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It is coming on two years since Eddie Solano died. And his wife still blames herself.

No matter that Solano had dementia. No matter that his wife, Viola, thought he was merely going outside to warm up his truck on a winter day as he usually did to keep the battery from dying.

No matter that she was busy rearranging furniture and didn't notice he had taken off.

"I should have stopped him," she said. "I should have taken his keys away."

It probably wouldn't have helped. Eddie was dedicated to driving.

"He loved to drive," she said.

It was Dec. 26, 2006, that marked the beginning of Eddie Solano's end - the day he took his last ride in his beloved 1950 GMC pickup truck.

He bought it used many years ago in Denver.

He had gone out earlier to warm up the family car and came back in.

He went back out to warm up the truck.

He didn't come back.

The family surmised that Solano got lost.

Instead, they discovered he'd wrecked his truck near Brighton. He was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital.

When Viola got word, she went to be by his bedside.

"I don't think I'm going to make it," he told her.

Sure you will. You're strong. You'll make it, she said.

Solano died Dec. 31.

Viola said that only now has she been able to talk about her husband and his last ride - two years of grieving.

"Thanksgiving is terrible," she said. "Christmas is worse. And New Year's."

She's not alone. Her sons and daughters have stepped up, keeping in touch, spending holidays with her.

"I still feel bad," she said. "But it helps. My faith in God keeps me going."

Eddie Solano was born June 10, 1922, in Anton Chico, N.M. His family moved to the Windsor area when he was a child. He worked as a farmhand.

He served in the Army in World War II, earning the Silver Star for destroying a German tank that was hammering his platoon, Viola said.

He was also wounded in action. "My husband was a hero," Viola said.

When Eddie got out, he came back to Windsor.

He met Viola, who grew up in Fort Collins, when she was working at an uncle's grocery store - her second job.

"I fell head over heels in love with him," she said.

They were married Aug. 24, 1947, in Fort Collins.

A year later, they settled in Denver, where Solano worked in a packing house before getting a job as a custodian with Denver Public Schools.

He retired in 1987. He and Viola would take trips - Solano driving, of course - to visit family in New Mexico and Fort Collins.

He busied himself with working on his yard.

About two years before he died, he was diagnosed with dementia.

On Dec. 26, he dressed nicely - new jeans and a white shirt, Viola said.

Even if she had hidden the keys to the pickup, he probably would have found them.

"He loved to drive. He loved that truck," she said. "After he was gone, somebody said he loved that truck so much that he took it with him."

Comments

  • December 1, 2008

    11:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BigRich writes:

    It certainly wasn't Viola's fault. In the end, he went while doing what he loved. I understand her sadness, but there's no need for guilt.