Family Man

In the New Year 1976 .. Yvonne and discussed plans to marry .. she said yes .. so now all we needed to do was travel to Saint John to meet my sister and my mother .. and Bernard and Joe Lundy ... and so on the 24 January 1976 we headed out on the 7 hour drive to my mother's house ... I didn't remember the date .. but Yvonne will never forget it ... I don't know how much I had told her about my mother but Yvonne was very nervous ... I don't remember very much .. I remember us sitting there talking to my mother .. I can still see what Yvonne had on .. I don't remember the conversation .. but I am sure it had a lot to do with Yvonne's parents and their Pizza Delight businesses ... we never said a thing about getting married ... 

The next day was Sunday .... so I took Yvonne down the street to see Joe Lundy and his mother ... his mother let us in .. and the first thing I see is that Joe is asleep on the couch in the Living Room ... and there is this huge dog in the house .. their dog Blackie had passed on and Joe had replaced him with a Norwegian Ridgeback .. the dog was almost as big as Yvonne .. and Yvonne has a healthy fear of big dogs ... Joe's mother tried to wake him .. and suddenly he sits bolt upright .. Jesus Christ mama ... and right away I realize Joe has been drinking ... he sees me ... and laughs that flemmy laugh that he had ... and I introduce him to Yvonne ...

Immediately Joe asks how I got to the house .. I said I drove .. he says I need you take me down to the bootlegger in the West Side .. it was Sunday you see and he had drank everything there was in the house ... I turned to Yvonne and explained that the most prudent move in the circumstances was to take Joe to the bootlegger ... so off I go with Joe .. leaving Yvonne with Joe's mother ... who was right out of 19th Century photograph .. in a house that was right out of 19th Century .. with a kitchen floor that had a 10 degree slope in places .. and a dog bigger than them both ... Yvonne has never forgotten this ... 

Joe bought a flat of beer .. and while I don't remember what happened .. I am sure he had two or three in the short drive home .. and then probably started draining stubbies once we got home .. I have never seen anybody consume beer like Joe ... it's like a sink draining .. I am sure we must have gone to Bernard's place .. but I have no memory of that ... and I don't remember if my sister was home or not ... again my memory seems to lock on the oddest elements of things ...

I don't remember the return drive to where I was staying ... I dropped Yvonne off at her place ... we had survived the initial meeting .. now it was just the timing of the engagement and the announcement ... and as usual I did it in a sudden moment of fancy when I really should have created an emotional, lasting personal memory that was our own ... but you can't fix crazy ... 


Phil (18 January 2021 - San Patricio de Melaque - 8:01 PM)


Krome Koan - 'If you met my family .. you would understand'




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