A New Year...
The following is a message I received last night from my father. He begins every message the same way… “This is your father…” it has become quite an endearing quality. I like being reminded that he has these precious little gifts to give… these little stories, glimpses of a world that has shaped him and then me.
Nathan,
This your Father and Mother calling you to wish you and Chris a most Happy New Year. This is the first time I have ever used this particular form of communication I hope I don’t mess it up. I want to pass on only one piece of advice for you for the new year. My Mom and Dad had a pretty stormy 67 year partnership. What I do remember very clearly is that every New Years Eve was spent at home with me and my brother Tim, we toasted the New Year with Ginger Ale as Alcohalic beverages were not allowed at 111 Brown Street. My Mother would always insist we all close our eyes and wish away all the bad thoughts from the whole year. She insisted we all start the New Year on a positve note, even my Dad. ”ALL TOGETHER OUT WITH THE BAD IN WITH THE GOOD” She would say. So that is the only words of wisdom I have for your New Year. Your Mom and I and your sisters miss you both very much but absence makes the heart grow fonder . So until we see you we Love you and miss you HAPPY NEW YEAR, Mom and Dad”
So as weak as it may seem… I cried… let me tell you I had drunk copious amounts of whisky, champagne, vodka, champagne, beer, red wine, lemonade (at least I think it was lemonade), more champagne, and finally jagermeister. So maybe I am not as “weak” as one might think, and it wasn’t as much crying as it was choking on my words when asked to read it aloud in front of a room full of people, so that a “girl” had to come up and finish reading it for me.
Anyone who knows my Mom and Dad, knows that they are seriously the coolest people in the world, possibly beyond that. I recall one specific moment in Becket history when I came home from Tanglewood 4th of July with my friends (a tame evening, consisting of a light picnic on the lawn, fireworks, and Diana Krall) to find my mother had piled 15 pieces of white painted wicker furniture on the back lawn and was lighting them ablaze. My friends catapulted themselves from the car as it was still moving and proceeded to dance about it like wild animals. This helped me remember the time she allowed me to burn the five piece yellow, vinyl sectional sofa when I was 13. Yes 13. My mother is a Goddess.
In high school my father would send me faxes from China to the school office. This was his only mode of communication with me for about six months. I think it was less about saying “Hello Nathan, this is your father calling” and more about making everyone think he was a secret agent. I won’t lie, when asked by someone, I played along… and it was fun dammit.
In my family we shot at things in the woods from the kitchen window, smoked cigars as small children while picking beans to keep the gnats and mosquitos away, ate raw beef right after it was butchered by Allen Dean with just a little salt, were allowed to buy my father his Marlboro Reds at the General Store, stayed up all night to boil down the maple sap with my mother, had a brawl during a family reunion the 1980’s at Mazzeo’s Ristorante… among many other stories… God I love them.
So I have decided every day to post something I love that brings me joy. It may be a memory, something I have found, or even you.
