Colyn, I think I have it in my head now on what you want for your project.
One of the most impressive writers I have met personally is Tom. I wish I could tell a story like him.
Anyways... If you are a person who romanticizes memory, your mind will bring forth a picture somewhat like this gem to the left. Yes, a serious and sober couple...
However, that picture always reminds me of this:
However, those in the know will realize that Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Smith were not American Gothic. Grandma Smith could RUN A SHOW and then some. I think that her most memorable pose, (so emblematic of her essence), is:
Kathleen and I many years ago had a cramped small apartment that we lived in after we were first married. When Maureen was baptized almost 22 years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, (much more substance to our Mr. and Mrs. Smith than Pitt/Jolie), came a calling with several other Sauvageaus and Nichols, (or as some people tend to plurazize us, "Nicholses"). When they came to call there must have been at least 15 people who slept over.
If I clearly remember one thing about Catherine Smith, it was that EWTN MUST be on the Television, (the only exception was WHEEL.....OF.....FORTUNE!!!!!). The other clear recollection is that the volume level had to be similar to that of an 747 Jet with engines full throttle.
One evening after Maureen's party for her baptism, after she had been placed to bed, I remember struggling to finish a chapter from Dumas Malone's biography of Thomas Jefferson. Now, I don't say that to sound pretentious or intellectual -- but I only say it because it required some level of concentration. But, Grandma Smith was listening to EWTN. The glass in the house was shaking with either the volume of the television or some exorcism of our house. Maybe both. We were tired. It was a long party. It was a good party. But, it was late. EVEN Tom, then probably in his early twenties, if not his teens was tired. But Mother Angelica was on a rip and that meant that Grandma Smith had the chair right up to the television and it was BLAAAARRRRIIINGGGG!!!
A voice of reason quietly spoke. "I think I'll be going to bed." Arthur Smith slowly rose from the couch. Well, well, well, we all thought, now we can all quietly shuffle off to bed.
"Well, Art, if sleep is more important to you than the salvation of your soul, go ahead."
Pause.
He was not yet standing up straight. He stopped somewhere between sitting, rising and standing. He considered his future. He considered his soul. He probably considered the image of his wife, or something like it as shown in the second picture above. Slowly, but making the only correct decision, he sat back down on the couch. 3 minutes later he was quietly snoring, perhaps in the rapturous belief that his soul had, indeed, been saved.
Dutifully, the Sauvageau boys -- none yet married -- also stayed and watched Catherine Smith who was watching Mother Angelica who was watching after us....
One more for the road. Theresa, I'm sorry for this, but yes, that was your hair.
After I posted this Blog, Kathleen told me that the look on Grandma Smith's face could be explained, along with all of the other looks: Theresa had just made a dirty joke. Most laughed -- one did not!
ReplyDelete