Hey Ma, What’s Up, Let’s Slide
My mother has taken to leaving messages for Bruce and I on the land line. She has managed to master the breezy, not trying too hard, but you can probably tell I am thinking very carefully about my words because you lived with me for 18 years, message.
“Hey Some Girl and Bruce. I was just calling to say hi and talk. It’s been a few weeks and I would LOVE to catch up. If you end up leaving a message make sure you tell me when it would be best for me to call so that I can find a time when you are home for me to talk to you because I miss talking to you. Well, just calling to say hi. Love Some Girl’s Mom’s given first name.”
Yeah. I know. My mom very specifically will say that she loves us both when she leaves a message that we both hear. I suppose it’s nice that she’s making the effort, considering she has yet to meet Bruce. Also, unbeknownst to my mom, Bruce’s family has taken a different approach. They are not exactly coming over for dinner or anything. In fact, they’re not coming over at all. I think this has something to do with the living in sin with the Jewish girl. Bruce thinks that they just wanted to give us space. Bruce is also sweetly simple (I love you and don’t mean simple as in mentally disabled).
In all of the conversations Bruce and I had about the meeting of our minds we never really thought about the meeting of the minds of everyone else. I mentioned that my family can be difficult, and in some regards they have lived up to their reputations but in other ways they are being very well behaved. Bruce assured me that he had been raised by a rather broad-mined set of parents who would see the wisdom of our ways.
Of course life is playing out differently than either of us expected. Because, seriously, my mom. She loves us.