It seems like a thousand days since Sunday.
I just took my sister to the airport, and my brother is traveling and will come back through town this weekend. Yesterday, we went through a footlocker that my mother left in my garage several years ago. I thought I knew what was in it. I have vivid memories of looking inside it once before. But I was wrong, because things I thought were there were not, yet there were lots of good and funny surprises, some of which I’m sure will become part of LJ posts in the coming months.
Mostly it was just comfortable and comforting to sit on the floor with my siblings and see some of the sentimental things that my parents thought were worth saving over the decades, even though they moved so much that they were constant purgers. From the time I was little, my mother used to say to me on special occasions, “I want to build memories.” As her own memory began to fade, we found that the trick for veering her away from frustration was to ask something like, “What was the name of David’s dog when he got out of the Air Force?” or “How did you and Daddy meet?” or “Who was your oldest sister?” She could look back twenty, fifty, seventy years and answer, which was like a little victory for her every time. Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease, and it’s a weird feeling to be grateful that cancer took her body before dementia could take everything else.
Last night I finished reading Armisted Maupin’s Michael Tolliver Lives, which turns out to have been the right book at the right time (thanks, Tim). I was struck by Michael’s perspective of our “logical” family, that family we create from our friends, as filling gaps very often created by a biological family. I’ve been blessed with great people in all of my families.
I wasn’t sure whether to do this post today, then I realized that my hesitation was because I worried people might think being silly was inappropriate. Yet I’m the first person to tell someone else, “Who gives a shit what other people think? As individuals, each of us manages our joys and our sorrows in whatever way and time works for us, not as others think we should.”
So I have fended off a headache with some pain medication, I’m enjoying my Starbucks mocha frappuccino, and I invite each of you to give me a page number from 1 to 612 and another number between 1 and 30, and I will tell you something to be happy about from this book:
Very Happy to see your post …
for Dash 534 number 13
for me 355 number 13
and I will try to refrain from fart jokes – unless it’s just too easy.
If you’re a good girl, I’ll post some cute dog photos later. If you’re a bad girl, I’ll probably post them, too.
Dash:
“not being too grown up for anything”
You:
“a cat named Marmalade because it’s orange”
(Maybe this Marmalade will show up in the Tales of Emily…)
See? Nothing to crack wise about with that … in fact Dashly’s seems perfect for him, despite of his Stalin-esque rule of the bed.
It’s never inappropriate to look for things to be happy about and yes, who gives a shit what other people think! Could I please have 611 no 5 please. Sending my best wishes to you. xx
Thank you. =)
“the junk page in the newspaper”
I’ve always been rather self-conscious, although I notice as I get older I tend to be a little less. I just say or do what I think is right, and just accept that others will react however they’re going to react to it. True, I don’t want to look like a horse’s ass, but I tend to worry less about that than I used to. The people who are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt are the ones who really count, and the one’s who are judgmental are not worth worrying about.
One of the big advantages of getting older (even though I’m only 35!) is that we tend to stop fretting so much about others’ opinions (merciful heavens, what if we all stayed as paranoid as we were in junior high? EEK!).
Though you didn’t ask for a number, I picked one at random (page 23, nymber 6) and it made me laugh because of your recent surgery:
“anesthesia”
Oh, that’s funny! Thanks for the giggle. I was still going down the hallway when I passed into unconsciousness. They said I might be awake when they got me to the surgery room, but I wasn’t. I don’t remember anything, thank God.
becky, i wish you lived closer. i’m pretty sure i’d make you hang out fairly often with me.
pg. 41 #24, please.
=) I’m excited that you and The Brides may be meeting soon. Fun for everyone!
“meeting someone at the airport”
oh that was a good ‘happy selection’.
how fun is it going to be to finally meet rhonda & lindsey!? you know…tim & you might oughta hop in the car with them… 😉
This post just put me in mind of the many things I have to be happy about. Thanks for that. 🙂
Page 38, #1 please.
You’re welcome. =)
“experience”
Yup, that’s a keeper alright!
604 number 7 please
“getting less wet walking in the rain and least wet standing still”
Some nights at work, the more stressed we are, the more silly–silliness is a great stress reliever. (I was very silly Monday night.)
Page 243, number 18, please.
“nail sizes: 2-penny to 20-penny”
Okay, that might not make you exactly happy, but the absurdity made me laugh–so silliness accomplished!
I just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking of you… this week must have been so rough. 🙁
*hugs*
Nothing wrong with being silly! Could I please have page 32, number 5? 🙂
Thank you. =)
“red flares”
“I was struck by Michael’s perspective of our “logical” family, that family we create from our friends, as filling gaps very often created by a biological family.”
Me, too!!
Page 17 # 3, please!
“candy-cane haystacks”
It’s a good thing you’re friends with us then, as, Rhon and I are possibly a little too silly for our own good at times. 😉 I? Will take page 500 number 13, please.
“folding chairs”
None for me, but Kipper Terwilliger Lohan-Pratt would like to try #611 and 5.
Anything for Kipper.
“the junk page in the newspaper”
(He must want to hang out with–see above.)
omg that is a bizarre coincidence…I totally didnt even see that
Being silly is a high art form and a key survival technique if you ask me.
The words about your siblings and mother were lovely.
Hope the pain is still away.
As for numbers….let’s try 73 and 9 my dear!
Thank you.
“rug making”
(I’m picturing you in your cabin on a winter night, dressed like Betsy Ross as you latch-hook a rug.)
You know me…never one to avoid being silly.
I’d like Line 3 from the Copyright page.
“All rights reserved.”
::giggle::
you are in the thougths and prayers of many.
What page and number says “family and old friends”
because that is what makes me happy
love you
Thank you. =)