ecovlke's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 10: George Lucas, Chewbacca, And My Mother Chapter 10: George Lucas, Chewbacca, And My Mother My relationship with my mother was always a good one. I knew that she always loved me. Even that time when I was in the fourth grade and I came home one evening, smelling something funny, asked her what was for dinner. The smell happened to be from the hole that I had unkowingly burned in to the top of her piano. I forgot and left her high intensity lamp on. The one that she used to light her sheet music. I had it on and its gooseneck bent low to "warm up" a little glow-in-the-dark plastic dinosaur. It was a trick that my dad showed me to make it glow brighter and longer. I figured the longer and closer the better. She didn't say anything to me while she shook the hell out of me for about five minutes, but I knew that she loved me. I knew that she loved me when that time when I was four, and I was in the bathtub and splashed her causing her to slap me which accidentilly bloodied my nose. I really knew that she loved me when every Christmas she would sew on the buttons to this Christmas countdown thing. Okay I know what it was, but explaining what this countdown thing was will take some effort. I'm not sure of where it came from, I think a neighbor lady gave it to me when I was four or five. It had a little elf with green pipe cleaners for arms that was attached to the top of an index card. The card had some poem typed in red which told about how to use this thing. I know this is confusing, but hang on and we'll do this together. From the bottom of the card was a strip of either green or red felt. It had 25 buttons lightly sewed on the felt strip. Every morning you were to take a button off. When you got to the last button it was Christmas. God the things I made my mother do. And here is a little story that I was asked to tell because of its cuteness factor. Its embarrassing, but here it goes. Sometime in the middle 1960s, Cream Of Wheat had a commercial which showed a boy eating his Cream Of Wheat out of a big white bowl. Okay, the message of the commercial was how this cereal's goodness would stay with you all day. This was represented by a ghost like bowl floating just above and behind the boys head as he went about his daily business. Well this caught my young impressionable eye. By god a consumer was born. But wait, I was a Quaker's Oat man like my grandfather. However this little detail did not stop me from having my mother hold my empty oatmeal bowl over my head as I left the kitchen. Yep, just like in the commercial. Wow. I thought the story my mother told about her watering the garden when I was two, and me coming out naked holding my bathing suit was embarrassing. Let's jump ahead 12 years. The year is 1977. A long time ago, in a city not too far away, there was playing a movie that I was sure every one in the world, but me and my mother had seen. Star Wars. Well my mother was a tiny woman. Maybe an inch or two taller than R2D2. She didn't like to drive too far because she had a hard time reaching the gas and brake pedals. My father had removed the seats from her car, drilled new holes closer to the pedals, and replaced the seats. He even made her a block to slip over the gas pedal so she could reach it better. And as an extra precaution, she didn't trim the toe nails on her right foot. Okay the toe nail thing was actually her little joke, but the rest was real. Well anyway, I begged her to take me to see Star Wars. She finally caved in and agreed. So before we went she had a "couple" of drinks of Southern Comfort for courage. Oh she was ready now. The Force was strong in this one because we made it to the theater in one piece. And like a Jedi she conducted herself rather well considering her state. We got our drinks, our popcorn, and seated ourselves in the very back of the theater. She on my left, with the popcorn in her right hand, and her drink in her left. The popcorn and drink came in the same sized round container. I would reach over and get some popcorn with my left hand. Well unbeknown to me she switched hands because her drink was making her left hand cold. I reached over for some popcorn, and inserted my hand up to the wrist in her coke. At this she started laughing so hard and loud, that an usher came brandishing his flashlight like it was a light sabre. She dummied up real quick, tried to keep a straight face, but she kept snickering. I had a great time going to see Star Wars with her, but I was still damn glad I was old enough to drive myself when the sequel came out. I really do miss my parents. 12:00 a.m. - 2001-09-16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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