Sunday night, the best show on all of television starts a new season – Six Feet Under returns for season three. I’ve been spoiler diving and there’s apparently a very interesting twist in the first 15 minutes, as well as some cool stuff happening in the next few episodes.
I don’t feel like I can write particulars, since this isn’t my own tragedy, but a friend of mine just lost someone very close to her today and I’m afraid of slipping into platitudes. Grieving people don’t want to hear about how it was God’s plan or that it’s better this way. They want to rail at the unfairness of it all, to feel like Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden. Oddly enough, having been on both sides – comforted and comfortee – it’s easy to remember what it’s like to experience deep grief, and easier still to say those senseless things that never bring anyone comfort. Even though there is no happiness without sadness, how in the hell is telling that to a grieving person going to help?
Strangely I think that one of the best grief scenes I’ve seen came from Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, where the father loses his son and is so numb that at the funeral all he can do is count how many times people tell him “He’s with the angels now” or other such nonsense.
I’m really taking the Mr. Rogers thing hard. I’ve been teary-eyed all day long. Am I the only one?
Went to see the surgeon today. He doesn’t know what’s wrong wtih me. He’s pawning me off to a dermatologist. Fine.
I’m tired and grouchy and the kids have been terrorizing me all week. I’m sure they’re tired of being cooped up, but that doesn’t mean they get to sleep with us and damn near break my nose. Seriously.
Anyway, I’m going to look into Mother’s Day Out programs for them, maybe twice a week, and start planning more outdoor activities as well as going-out activities, like the children’s museum and storytime at the bookstore. I think it will do us all some good to get out, even though my first urge lately has been to hide under the covers and pretend I’m not there.
Also, I miss my cat.
Fred McFeely Rogers (1928-2003)
In memory of Fred Rogers, who brought such goodness to the children of the world. May angels wing you home, Mr. Rogers.
For those of you up north who are looking at the pictures of the ice and giggling to yourselves about how lame our “ice storm” was, you have to understand that the 1/4″ of ice you see completely shut down the city for the past 2 days, school was canceled, doctors’ offices closed, car wrecks were abundant, interstate highways were closed down, the airport was closed, and 9 people have died as a result of exposure to the elements or wrecks blamed on the road conditions.
Those of you who don’t believe we got ice, think again. You know who you are, and so do we. (Thanks to Recreational Chemistry for help with the image stuff!)
