a tenants' rights organization and he was working for a housing developer. They had been married for thirty-five years and their marriage was a happy one, though they hid marital tension from their children. Alan held onto his wife's clothes, which he hid in the garage, despite Don helping him pack it six months before. When Charlie showed concern, he told him it was none of his business. Don confronted him as well, but both were criticized for giving advice as unmarried men and Mr. Eppes finally decided to get rid of the clothing on his own. After Charlie found a musical composition for the piano by his mother under her maiden name, Margaret Mann, in the Eppes garage, Alan revealed to his sons their mother's talent with classical music and her training in Vienna. He was astonished when his son noticed that some of her other compositions were dated after the birth of their children as he thought she had put her music work aside for her law career to help the family. Alan has seen his wife (JoBeth Williams) in a dream at the same time as Charlie. Alan volunteered his son's house for Valerie Eng's (a girl Don and Charlie both liked during high school) wedding, toiled over coordinating every detail, and assigned the seating arrangement to Charlie, who created a mathematical algorithm for it, though Charlie didn't overall seem too enthusiastic about it. He claimed that since he never had a daughter, this would be his chance to make amends. Alan has considered moving out of his son's house in order to live alone (something he has not done in forty years) and accomplish things on his own, but was rather hesitant to tell Charlie. He was shocked when his son seemed fine with it. Don tried to persuade him to take a place next to a tennis court, as his elder son is fond of the game. Alan finally decided against moving, since he favors his sons' company over being alone. He wants a new staircase to his room. Moreover, he wants Charlie to be more responsible in maintaining the house and be able to have a family. After giving Charlie a hard time about his chores, he seemed to grasp Charlie's situation more fully after a comparison to Einstein's. More predicaments in his living arrangements are revealed when a break-in at his precious Craftsman