Linda's obituary was in the NY Times.
Mr. X wrote from Florida with condolences from he and his wife. He told me about his daughter (my childhood friend) and that she and her husband live 15 minutes from he and his wife - and how "fantastic" that is. That he would like news of Peter and I and that he and his wife miss both our parents.
I felt numb.
The obit asked that people contact Peter
if they would like information about a memorial service.
I used to hate Mr. X's wife.
I have grown to merely dislike her.
One day, when I was 12 or 13 years old,
after Bob had died, I saw Mrs. X in a bakery.
As I was taught to do, I said hello to Mrs. X.
She seemed startled and replied,
"Hello Emily, how are you? Is your mother still living in sin?"
She looked almost as shocked as I did that she had said these words
and publicly. I responded,
"Do you mean, 'Is she living with *** ?' yes, she is."
I left... and I cried. Bitch.
Linda had a boyfriend.
I called Uncle Herbie.
I tell him about the email.
He said, "I'm not going to tell you what to do.
(pause)
I can tell you what I would do..."
I replied,
"I don't want you to tell me what to do, I want an opinion."
"Well in that case, Fuck him, you don't have to email him.
I wouldn't!"
"Thank you Uncle Herbie, I feel much better.
That is just what I needed to hear!"
"Listen, you just can't take all this to heart!
I have to take this call, hold on please...
(beep, beep, beep beep, beep, beep, beep)
Who is this?"
"It's Emily
Uncle Herbie, that was the redial button not the flash button."
I LOVE UNCLE HERBIE.
XOXO,
Bob's Daughter
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As I read this post, I had this thought: What would happen if this series of blogs became a book? I wondered if you had thought about that. It seems so obvious, but then, that was probably not at all your intent in creating this blog, and it still might not be what you have in mind. But humor me for a moment. Let's say you did collect these blogs and publish them. Then what would they become? How would that change their relationship to time and space? They'd exist in a new space, not just this Internet blog space. And they'd lose their sense of time. Would you edit for typos and such? Or would that fundamentally tamper with the integrity and identity of the form by erasing their process of creation? How does creating a book out of blog entries create a new art form? Is this the future of pleasure reading? Is it the creation of a new genre of literature? And if so, shouldn't there be some sort of discourse about the rules of the game?
ReplyDeleteI have thought about it, but this is an internet experience, so it keeps happening here - live - in a way - as long as I am still living.
ReplyDeleteI have had offers to correct my typos and such, but I have not accepted (yet) because of my process for writing. One of my own rules for playing is to write and then see what is on the page. I edit, but not much! I go back sometimes and edit mistakes in old posts, but if I think about the shape of the language the ideas may get dry before I use them as paint.
xo,
Bob's Daughter