…and Laughing
I’ll bet that if you asked a bunch of people–maybe taking some kind of a survey–what was the best time you had with your family? Was it a special vacation or a period of time when all members were functioning well and the family was in harmony?
If somebody asked me that, I could truthfully say: from 1992 to 2001. The three of us, Peter and Michael and myself, spent a time that lasted ten years and maybe more, having fun together. This went on every day, every week, etc.
I’ve written in the past that Michael became an adolescent the minute he turned 9. That’s when Peter and I felt the boundaries dissolving and we included Michael in our world. We did nothing inappropriate. But we watched the same movies together–lots of car crashes, dead bodies, desperate and perverted people. We looked at each other and shrugged; we didn’t think anything really bad could happen to Michael. I’ve told others this and I was told that it all lay in our attitude; Michael, with his intellect, knew it was all made up.
We had many secret words, codes, jokes, and even a special funny face for any occasion. Movies we liked? Die Hard, Die Hard 2, The Jackal, Galaxy Quest (our favorite,) anything with Alan Rickman, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Connery, Morgan Freeman, Ralph Fiennes. Shakespeare In Love, anything about cowboys and horses and guns. Lots and lots of dead people. Please note that there was only one romance–Shakespeare In Love. All of the rest with “love and relationships” we did not like. And here I’m forced to admit…our eating habits on the weekends were awful. Junk–junk–more junk.
We also liked “Are You Being Served?” on PBS. We watched them over and over until we knew whole parts of dialogue from them. Some of our favorite words came from there.
Holidays were incredibly hilarious. On Thanksgiving we’d drive down to Cape May, New Jersey and we’d always stay in the same B and B. It was called Albert Stevens Inn and the people there loved cats. Michael would bring his journal, take long walks along the beach, find places to sit and write. He had enough good instincts, street smarts, and powers of observation to keep safe. Then the three of us would take the ferry that connects Cape May with Lewes, Delaware. Michael sat alone, watched the sea,and did more writing; I’d sometimes sit with him and go into a dream, watching the water; Peter would climb up to the top with his binoculars and observe the natural world. Never was there competition, jealousy, somebody feeling left out. I don’t know how this happened but it’s true. We all loved each other so very, very, much and couldn’t get enough of each other’s company. I say “loved” as if it all happened in the past. We still do love each other very much but Michael has moved on, as is the right thing to do. But when I feel low I remember that I laughed for ten years straight and my husband and son loved me intensely, always trying to find ways to make me happy.
lgmwriting 