The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

At the doctor’s office, Maureen struggles to check in via the new system. The receptionist says she will be seeing an intern since her regular doctor is out. Maureen waits, reflecting that David doesn’t understand the anxiety of being alone in the outside world. The young intern calls her back, and Maureen wishes she had stayed home. She tells him about Harold’s walk to save Queenie from cancer and shares her worries about Harold’s health. Harold has spent every day since retirement in the same chair, leading the intern to conclude he is depressed. Maureen claims Harold has Alzheimer’s, but it is undiagnosed and unmedicated. The intern thinks Maureen is exaggerating Harold’s forgetfulness as a disease.

Maureen shares Harold’s family history: his father’s depression and alcoholism after the war, his mother’s abandonment. Kicked out at 16, Harold had no contact with his father until Harold’s alleged stepmother called on his behalf, saying the old man was mad. Maureen found Harold’s father a nursing home but he died completely incoherent. She asks the intern if Harold is putting himself in danger and should be made to stop walking. The intern recommends police intervention, causing Maureen to back down. She doesn’t truly believe Harold has Alzheimer’s and she even understands his pilgrimage, to some extent. Maureen realizes that she has stayed with Harold because it was better than being totally alone.