Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Muddy Waters

The phone call came today, from my friend whose mother died. I was afraid she would be brittle and unyielding in her coping; impossibly imprisoned in her fairy tale tower of protection, but grief had levelled her. On the phone, she sounded like the girl I knew so long ago, her older, more interior self. As we talked a million memories, some muddy and indistinct, others crystalline, bobbed to the surface of the silty depths of my mind.

Reaching for those memories down in the sludgy bottom of my consciousness, I hesitated. My fear of what might be lingering, lurking there in the sediment, forgotten, kept me from trawling through that dormant, long buried past. For now.

I think it's time to drain the pool, and clean out the debris.

We are getting together on Saturday to visit with each other, to reconnect. In part, to pay my respects, but also to grieve together, something I'm surprised to discover I need to do.

As much as I have vilified her mother, painted her as a narcissistic monster of selfishness (and she was), as an adult I recognize her impact on my life. I realize that my memories are colored in crayon, the memories of a child, and there were undoubtedly undercurrents and dynamics I was ignorant of that played into the scenes I witnessed. I owe it to myself and my friend to steel my nerve and dig into that past, if only to affirm our bond to each other as situational siblings, but maybe also to make some sense of the things that haunt us both.

10 comments:

thailandchani said...

This sounds like a very good idea. Putting the past to rest and coming into the now will only serve both of you well.


~*

Chanda (aka Bea) said...

I am so bringing the wine! Even though I will basically be the fly on the wall (or the ointment, as the case may be), I'm looking forward to dangling my toes as you two old friends wade into the waters.

(Hmmm... perhaps I should heed a certain line of poetry about the wisdom of extended metaphors. )

Gypsy said...

Good luck delving in.

Vodka Mom said...

hey lady- I loved your writing, and wish you Godspeed on your "quest".

I'll have a martini waiting. (I'll try not to drink it.)

flutter said...

this is wonderful, friend

Sarah P. Miller said...

"I think it's time to drain the pool, and clean out the debris."

Stunning.

FairiesNest said...

It's amazing the perspective that time can bring if you let it. Say hi to her for me...she was my other bratty little sis. ;)

Anonymous said...

Isn't it strange, the way our perception of someone is often tampered once they are gone?

This is a meaningful post . . .

Ben and Bennie said...

I think this is great. And I also was moved by the "drain the pool" analogy. Great post!

Maggie, Dammit said...

oooooh. I've got chills.