Once we’d settled on a place to meet my Mom, Sabrina changed from Captain D’s attire to Chili’s pretty quickly; photographed the Cave. Went to special place after stopping to pose with Mocha. Took me back to play pretend places set up, temporary homes away from home. “Finn loved helping me clear this, he’s a hard worker!”
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King me.
Coronation road by the lock and dam, smoking a rare treat, a clove from Sabrina as the sun beat down on a moderate lunchtime country road that sped by with bits of the past and friends and thoughts in life remembered.
Found crown, toy yellow plastic thing; was encouraged to wear it in to Chili’s and say it’s my birthday. The four of us go inside in the best of spirits, maybe a little something they didn’t recognize...or maybe, pay attention.
So proud to have my beautiful friend with us, to have my chosen family seated together, the woman who bore me, the woman who married me, and the confidante to both of us who had been with us more hours by influence than any other single person this year. She’d volunteered a healthy portion of photos to consider for our expressive D’n’A art.
I was thrilled to have their company, to be here for this first meeting, my friend of whom I’d been so proud and my mother.
I cut off salmon and steak both for Eric in Sabrina’s to-go box. Our time there evoked memories of Brenda’s Place, our restaurant, where I worked with Mom. The wooden checker table and pieces broke boredom on occasion, especially when this one old gentleman would come by to play me. He helped me master the game. It was the place I read that old People magazine that changed my life (the 1960? Wow!) and where I drew and wrote, for fun, my last comic book before adult hood, the Uglies #1.
Got to rush to the old comic book shop, nearly too distracted by nervously talking about my new fortunes opening our own comics and printing imprint and praising San Diego.
Found our way home beneath threat of rain; every inch of road had some memory, as well as the moment at hand. Still much like driving to the past to go home with Mom, even though it’d never been my home in particular. I could see how life in Rome would be flashing me my past every day. I remember feeling much more nostalgic for it, around 19 or 20, than I did today.
All in the Family, Andy Griffith, and Sanford and Son. It was like Dad could come home from work any minute. I also enjoyed Eternals 4 from my friend Steve Peters, who’s worked with Dave Sim and creates the quirkiest alternative comics full of philosophy and surrealism. I also sampled 40 pages of Al Crow goodness in Little Essays Towards the Truth, a comic book or two (a Giant-Sized Defenders #3, written with great aplomb by my man Gerber), then Sorry!
You know this game? You not only capture and send other players back to start, but you even have the Sorry! Card that lets you swap from Start to wherever your opponent was! Obviously, some trash talking and teasing fills out the four color experience.
4 rounds we played, while a 60’s hits compilation I found spun nearby. Four, so they could both have a win a piece with my two. It is nice to be the “villain” sometimes, when you bring together loved ones. This entire trip through my kingdom had been about the loved ones brought together by my life, had reconnected the little network with love and support and fun.
Four parts together all day: it was thematic.
Angela and I walked in the midnight cool through the neighborhood. Two houses a day---at least here, where she could stake out with her computer games for a few hours and play with the dogs, things were quiet, as sometimes, that is the point of a vacation.
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