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On Sunday I woke up early. Very early. For I had insomnia. Because I am too old to sleep in a sleeping bag on a floor. Oh wait I had some cushions to sleep on. But I am too old for this shit. But still it was fun to hang with my sister. She also woke up early so we hung out in the library of her dorm. It being a ladies college of a certain age, it had things like libraries with tasteful furniture and wood paneling as ladies need nice things. You add boys into the mix and you have to down-grade to so-so decor. We looked at the internets and talked about nail polish, feminism, simple truths about ladies colleges, hair, alcoholic beverages that are choice, and boys. BOYS!
Then we finished packing/hosing down the joint and then we waited for the fucking shuttle to show up. It was late. I called and was firm but fierce and explained that this was not acceptable. That shuttle showed up. We went to the airport. Again we went through assorted parts of Oakland, which remains really interesting and beautiful. (not like SF, but in a different way) Then we got to hang out at the rather teeny but lovely Oakland airport. This was my Mother's Day present. I was hanging out in an airport and I wasn't responsible for anyone. I did not have to keep anyone calm. Except myself. Which was amusing.
While waiting (our flight was delayed) I was sitting near two women who shared every single element of their lives. One woman did not stop talking for a good half an hour. They had a conversation about caring for elderly parents for sometime. I heard about one woman and her four daughters. FOUR OF THEM. Who is married. Who went to college where. Who has grandchildren. Who lives where. What she thinks of each child. Then the other woman discussed her problems. Of which there were many. Some of them were pretty depressing. The worst was her awful awful daughter. She thinks this daughter is kind of a sociopath. (oh by the way she also has a gay son who has been with his partner for a long time. They have kids. She loves being a Grandma. Which is great. The two women also discussed marriage equality. They are for it. One said, "well geez, economically it just makes plain sense. Let everyone marry, then there are no worries about who is left what and so on." Practical.) Now back to the psycho daughter. APPARENTLY, she was visiting her daughter down in Long Beach. She and her daughter and I think her son went to this gay club, had drinks, a lovely time. (as one does with their Mother) Then they left. They were driving somewhere and her daughter decided to turn the music up full blast and the Mother asked (she claims it wasn't in a hostile voice) if they could turn the music down. The daughter completely flipped out, grabbed the Mother's phone, broke it, threw it out the window and then pulled over and kicked the Mother out of the car. The gay son didn't want to get into the middle of it. The woman said this of her daughter, "oh she was even nasty as a child. She used to call her brother a faggot. I mean...she was right, but it isn't very nice. She has always been about herself." The daughter screamed at the Mother for awhile and then left her in the middle of Long Beach in the middle of the night on some street. So the woman eventually found a phone, got a taxi, and then went to her gay son's house. Yes. I heard every single word of this. So her gay son (she referred to him as her gay son a few times) got her a flight to SF. She was supposed to stay down there until Tuesday but she was raring to get out. She said of her daughter, "I don't think I will be talking to her for a good long time."
Family eh?
Then they went back to the other woman telling the woman with the psycho daughter, all the things she will have to do with her elderly parents.
Oh and then we heard the rest of their life stories.
I had a hot chocolate from Starbucks. It was what it was.
The flight home was lovely. They made up time in the air so we weren't too late. The weather was gorgeous so we could see all the mountains. (what up Mt. St. Helens) Then we dragged our luggage home on the lightrail and bus like a bunch of refugees. I told my sister, "you are never allowed to buy another thing. Or at least don't ask me to help you drag it on public transport.
Then I came home to find myself locked out (as I gave my keys to Mr. Jenner to hold onto so I wouldn't lose them) because Mr. Jenner took the kids to the beach. I swore up a blue streak, broke into the garage, threw some things in my exhaustion and found a key into the garage. We had burgers for dinner. I did not cook. It was Mother's day god dammit and I wanted it to end on a good note.
It was really interesting to meet some of my sister's friends and the ladies who attend Mills. It is so damn varied it is like some sit-com or utopia of "how to have all different kinds of folk living together" She has a friend whose parents were immigrants from Mexico and they were migrant farm laborers for part of her childhood. Kitty told me, "you know those pre-packaged melon balls? and raisins? Her Mom did those." Eventually her parents moved up the economic ladder and their daughter made it to and graduated from college. THIS is the awesome stuff of America. Seriously. Then my sister has another friend who is so waspy, it is like talking to a Mitford. I kid you not. (her Father is some high-falutin' banker and the expectation is that in that family you are going to become something important and do something important and my sister described her fiend's Mother as being TOTALLY like Emily Gilmore.) One of my brothers and I were completely fascinated by her. We had the best fun talking to her because she said things so hilariously waspy and old-world that it was like we were dropped into some play from the 1930s. I want to take her out drinking. I want to be her Auntie Mame and show her how to live. People are a kick.
Then we finished packing/hosing down the joint and then we waited for the fucking shuttle to show up. It was late. I called and was firm but fierce and explained that this was not acceptable. That shuttle showed up. We went to the airport. Again we went through assorted parts of Oakland, which remains really interesting and beautiful. (not like SF, but in a different way) Then we got to hang out at the rather teeny but lovely Oakland airport. This was my Mother's Day present. I was hanging out in an airport and I wasn't responsible for anyone. I did not have to keep anyone calm. Except myself. Which was amusing.
While waiting (our flight was delayed) I was sitting near two women who shared every single element of their lives. One woman did not stop talking for a good half an hour. They had a conversation about caring for elderly parents for sometime. I heard about one woman and her four daughters. FOUR OF THEM. Who is married. Who went to college where. Who has grandchildren. Who lives where. What she thinks of each child. Then the other woman discussed her problems. Of which there were many. Some of them were pretty depressing. The worst was her awful awful daughter. She thinks this daughter is kind of a sociopath. (oh by the way she also has a gay son who has been with his partner for a long time. They have kids. She loves being a Grandma. Which is great. The two women also discussed marriage equality. They are for it. One said, "well geez, economically it just makes plain sense. Let everyone marry, then there are no worries about who is left what and so on." Practical.) Now back to the psycho daughter. APPARENTLY, she was visiting her daughter down in Long Beach. She and her daughter and I think her son went to this gay club, had drinks, a lovely time. (as one does with their Mother) Then they left. They were driving somewhere and her daughter decided to turn the music up full blast and the Mother asked (she claims it wasn't in a hostile voice) if they could turn the music down. The daughter completely flipped out, grabbed the Mother's phone, broke it, threw it out the window and then pulled over and kicked the Mother out of the car. The gay son didn't want to get into the middle of it. The woman said this of her daughter, "oh she was even nasty as a child. She used to call her brother a faggot. I mean...she was right, but it isn't very nice. She has always been about herself." The daughter screamed at the Mother for awhile and then left her in the middle of Long Beach in the middle of the night on some street. So the woman eventually found a phone, got a taxi, and then went to her gay son's house. Yes. I heard every single word of this. So her gay son (she referred to him as her gay son a few times) got her a flight to SF. She was supposed to stay down there until Tuesday but she was raring to get out. She said of her daughter, "I don't think I will be talking to her for a good long time."
Family eh?
Then they went back to the other woman telling the woman with the psycho daughter, all the things she will have to do with her elderly parents.
Oh and then we heard the rest of their life stories.
I had a hot chocolate from Starbucks. It was what it was.
The flight home was lovely. They made up time in the air so we weren't too late. The weather was gorgeous so we could see all the mountains. (what up Mt. St. Helens) Then we dragged our luggage home on the lightrail and bus like a bunch of refugees. I told my sister, "you are never allowed to buy another thing. Or at least don't ask me to help you drag it on public transport.
Then I came home to find myself locked out (as I gave my keys to Mr. Jenner to hold onto so I wouldn't lose them) because Mr. Jenner took the kids to the beach. I swore up a blue streak, broke into the garage, threw some things in my exhaustion and found a key into the garage. We had burgers for dinner. I did not cook. It was Mother's day god dammit and I wanted it to end on a good note.
It was really interesting to meet some of my sister's friends and the ladies who attend Mills. It is so damn varied it is like some sit-com or utopia of "how to have all different kinds of folk living together" She has a friend whose parents were immigrants from Mexico and they were migrant farm laborers for part of her childhood. Kitty told me, "you know those pre-packaged melon balls? and raisins? Her Mom did those." Eventually her parents moved up the economic ladder and their daughter made it to and graduated from college. THIS is the awesome stuff of America. Seriously. Then my sister has another friend who is so waspy, it is like talking to a Mitford. I kid you not. (her Father is some high-falutin' banker and the expectation is that in that family you are going to become something important and do something important and my sister described her fiend's Mother as being TOTALLY like Emily Gilmore.) One of my brothers and I were completely fascinated by her. We had the best fun talking to her because she said things so hilariously waspy and old-world that it was like we were dropped into some play from the 1930s. I want to take her out drinking. I want to be her Auntie Mame and show her how to live. People are a kick.
