Something to Think About
Been thinking about family a lot.
Sunday morning I was having my coffee while watching the pundits pontificate and the phone rang. The sound sent shivers down my spine because my sisters and I had words on Friday and Saturday. I assumed the phone call signaled bad news about Sharon, who had been the cause of our discontent....surprise. I was wrong.
The phone call was from my friend Nancy. I met Nancy when she was still a college student in Washington, D.C. She was an intern in the congressional committee office for which I worked. Nancy was everything I was not: popular, pretty, thin, and very smart. I admired her and was jealous of her in the same breath. We'd spend hours on the telephone deconstructing everything about our lives. She used to tell me how glamorous she thought I was. I wanted to believe her, said I did, but secretly thought she was nuts. Eventually, she went to law school, got married, had two kids, and got divorced.
She seemed to move forward in her life while I remained in place treading water. We stayed in touch for decades and then we sort of moved in different directions and fell out of each other's lives. A few years ago, thanks to the Internet, we were reunited. Her children are now both young adults in their 30s; the same age as my obsession. The last time I saw either of them, one was a squealing infant in my arms; the other a precocious toddler who followed me everywhere.
Nancy never remarried, though I think she has a boyfriend. She never talks about her life anymore. I ask about her but she offers very little. I think she feels embarrassed that life has treated her more kindly than it has me. Maybe not. I tell her about mine. There are few triumphs to report, especially lately. The last time we spoke before this, I began to cry when describing my sister's latest health crisis. Nancy responded with a stern request. "Don't do that."
She was in town; she often comes to visit her daughter who lives about 25 miles from me. She never contacts me but this time she did. She apologized. I assured her I didn't expect her to visit me. She listened to me and then I insisted on asking what was going on in her life. She offered no more than she usually does. Our girlhood phone conversations about everything, everybody, and life are distant memories.
Nancy knew me when I was all possibility. I love Nancy. She loves me. We are family to each other even though life has taken us on different paths.
So the obsession attained 30 years on February 13, 2004. In honor of it, his hometown radio station ran interviews with his family. [Robbie Williams - A Biography, with audio from his Mum and Dad]It was very revealing. I glimpsed a loving family. I'd always wondered about the sister that no one talks about. I was relieved to hear the obsession's mother go on at length about her daughter. She loves them both.
His mother is a lot like me, I think. She's determined; but she's also made a good home for her children. I think we might've been friends if we'd ever met. I like her already for the way she talked of her daughter. I already admire her son. He seems decent and kind and he loves his mother. I know why now. Click link here to check this out!
Sunday morning I was having my coffee while watching the pundits pontificate and the phone rang. The sound sent shivers down my spine because my sisters and I had words on Friday and Saturday. I assumed the phone call signaled bad news about Sharon, who had been the cause of our discontent....surprise. I was wrong.
The phone call was from my friend Nancy. I met Nancy when she was still a college student in Washington, D.C. She was an intern in the congressional committee office for which I worked. Nancy was everything I was not: popular, pretty, thin, and very smart. I admired her and was jealous of her in the same breath. We'd spend hours on the telephone deconstructing everything about our lives. She used to tell me how glamorous she thought I was. I wanted to believe her, said I did, but secretly thought she was nuts. Eventually, she went to law school, got married, had two kids, and got divorced.
She seemed to move forward in her life while I remained in place treading water. We stayed in touch for decades and then we sort of moved in different directions and fell out of each other's lives. A few years ago, thanks to the Internet, we were reunited. Her children are now both young adults in their 30s; the same age as my obsession. The last time I saw either of them, one was a squealing infant in my arms; the other a precocious toddler who followed me everywhere.
Nancy never remarried, though I think she has a boyfriend. She never talks about her life anymore. I ask about her but she offers very little. I think she feels embarrassed that life has treated her more kindly than it has me. Maybe not. I tell her about mine. There are few triumphs to report, especially lately. The last time we spoke before this, I began to cry when describing my sister's latest health crisis. Nancy responded with a stern request. "Don't do that."
She was in town; she often comes to visit her daughter who lives about 25 miles from me. She never contacts me but this time she did. She apologized. I assured her I didn't expect her to visit me. She listened to me and then I insisted on asking what was going on in her life. She offered no more than she usually does. Our girlhood phone conversations about everything, everybody, and life are distant memories.
Nancy knew me when I was all possibility. I love Nancy. She loves me. We are family to each other even though life has taken us on different paths.
So the obsession attained 30 years on February 13, 2004. In honor of it, his hometown radio station ran interviews with his family. [Robbie Williams - A Biography, with audio from his Mum and Dad]It was very revealing. I glimpsed a loving family. I'd always wondered about the sister that no one talks about. I was relieved to hear the obsession's mother go on at length about her daughter. She loves them both.
His mother is a lot like me, I think. She's determined; but she's also made a good home for her children. I think we might've been friends if we'd ever met. I like her already for the way she talked of her daughter. I already admire her son. He seems decent and kind and he loves his mother. I know why now. Click link here to check this out!
posted by Ambimom at 1:11 PM
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