This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom, probably because I don't see my mother so much as a young woman, simple and clean-faced, rather Tomboy-ish. My mother lived at least two lives, and raised two sets of boys. I can't speak for who she was before; I only know the woman who had me when she was nearly 40 years old, a woman whom I now realize was trying to get it right, was trying to be the best woman and the best mother she could possibly be. That my father and I are still haunted by her memory, some 23 years later, says all that needs to be said.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Mary Lee and Zipper
This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom, probably because I don't see my mother so much as a young woman, simple and clean-faced, rather Tomboy-ish. My mother lived at least two lives, and raised two sets of boys. I can't speak for who she was before; I only know the woman who had me when she was nearly 40 years old, a woman whom I now realize was trying to get it right, was trying to be the best woman and the best mother she could possibly be. That my father and I are still haunted by her memory, some 23 years later, says all that needs to be said.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
My Own Private Jungle...Forever
Actually, not so much. As my mom operated a babysitting business, I usually had to share it with a throng of other children. Weekends were all mine, especially by the time I was this tall, because my older brother had discovered girls and tragically morphed into Lief Garret, like in a horror movie. It's funny, older and younger brothers each seem to harbor an unacknowledged resentment toward the other: the former resents the latter because he feels the new arrival has forever taken his place, leaving him abandoned. The latter resents the former because he only idolizes his brother and feels abandoned himself when that brother--who feels he must face life alone--moves on.
Dad in His Prime w/Unknown Kid: Maybe Me, Maybe My Brother
Probably me as I don't see a GW lapel pin anywhere. Dad looks way cooler than he ever was, I'm sure of it.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Heart of Fonzness
Hanging with Henry Winkler at the 1976 Auto, Boat & Speed Show. Waiting in line was like steaming down Conrad's river. The horror, the horror, the "Heeeeeeyyy...!"Southern California, circa 1970: Mom, Crissy and Mini-me
This picture made me think of a Vonnegut quote, which I've pasted below:"I'm eighty-three and homeless. It was the same when World War II ended. The Army kept me on because I could type, so I was typing other people's discharges and stuff. And my feeling was 'Please, I've done everything I was supposed to do. Can I go home now?' That's what I feel...I've done everything I'm supposed to do. Can I go home...? I've wondered where home is. It's when I was in Indianapolis when I was nine years old. Had a dog, a cat, a brother, a sister."
--KURT VONNEGUT, JR., Rolling Stone, Aug. 24, 2006
That '70s Shot: Giff and His Boys
This is me posing with my dad, Giff, and my older brother, Shawn. And a styracosaurus.Magnificent Mary Lee
Mom in her natural state...laughing heartily. Mary Lee was smart-as-a-whip, curious about everything, and kept a house full of books and people. They don't make 'em like her anymore. Damn few, that's for sure.
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