by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2007/10/27 03:09 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2007/10/27/5701644.aspx
From near the end of Gifford's The Assassini (which you may recall I recently mentioned reading to counteract the effect of Becoming Jane on my sense, sensibilities, pride, and prejudice):
"...She had excavated four decades and more, and she found an old snapshot on Klaus Richter's office wall in Alexandria and there was her old friend Giacomo D'Ambrizzi....."
He clasped his hands before him, almost in prayer.
"The past is always waiting for us, it comes alive and lashes out at us when we least expect it. One of God's little jokes, He keep us humble."
I recalled the words not thirty minutes ago, you know.
Well, let me explain.
My phone rang an hour or so ago.
My land-line phone.
You know, the one that is listed and gets all of the telemarketing calls.
The one I never use for anything other than either ignoring or torturing unsuspecting telemarketers.
But it was like almost 11:00pm, so I was curious. I answered it.
It was a real blast from the past. An ex-girlfriend from a long, long time ago.
"Hi," I said awkwardly, realizing I had probably not seen her or spoken to her in over two decades. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, Michael," she responded. "Sorry to be calling so late but it is later here."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes," she replied, "but can we talk about Grace Slick for a moment?"
Shit.
Someone she had apparently been reading the blog, specifically 'Today' is not a breakup song (said her favorite cylon), aka Readers here might prefer to listen to music like normal people do .
And she knew that she had never been as CSN or a CSNY fan. Hell, she had never even been a NY/CH fan.
Shit.
Damn, I already said that.
Maybe an unlisted number would have been safer....
Okay, confession time.
I took a small liberty with the truth in that post.
The woman I was talking about when I talked about Today was not the first person I had ever said "I love you" to (and meant it).
But she was the first person I had thought about in terms of things like longterm and future after I had left the home I grew up in and struck out on my own.
Not the first time I meant it, certainly.
But perhaps it was the first time that I really had a real sense of the meaning and consequence of the words.
Before that had anyone ever really believed me?
Well, obviously yes.
Anyway, eventually we said goodbye and the call ended.
Before we hung up she had a suggestion for me.
"If you want to change facts to hide identities? Fine, I would appeciate that. To hold back secrets that aren't yours to share? Go for it. For dramatic effect? Have at it! Your readers clearly approve. But you never know who was there who might take it personally later, so just think about it first, 'kay?"
Good advice, truly.
And that book quote was right -- that phone call, that bit of the past that lashed out through the phone, it did humble me a bit.
I guess I'll never know which 20 people are going to read a post -- so I had better assume it is the twenty who I would least expect to, just in case.
and maybe an Ex or two....
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