Memories echo
Their sound is louder
Than the lost moment
That created them.
Photo courtesy Pixabay
Happy #TRT – Tummy Rub Tuesday (Week 122)
Look — my sweet babies have achieved world-wide fame! If you cat lovers haven’t seen this site yet, absolutely check it out. It’s more than just cute pictures of kitties (although there are plenty of those!).
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life — Worth the Wait
So I finally know the last two words Amy Sherman-Palladino planned to use in the finale of Gilmore Girls. Don’t worry, no spoilers here. But Gilmore Girls fans, if you were hesitant to watch the sequel for any reason, wait no longer. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is true to the original, but it’s not the same. The characters have grown, yet Stars Hollow is as quirky as ever. You can go home again.
Virtually all of the key characters from the show’s original seven-year run show up in at least one of the four episodes airing now on Netflix, save, of course, Richard Gilmore, as Edward Hermann died December 31, 2014. His passing is honored, and so is Richard’s.
Look for the same Emily, yet a definitively changed one. Kelly Bishop is a fantastically talented actress who always kept Emily from being unsympathetic. On occasion she broke out a wickedly fun side, and she does so again in these latest episodes.
Both Lorelai and Rory have hit a crossroads, one common to women in their late 40s and mid 30s, respectively. How they work through their struggles is so true to the series as created by Amy Sherman-Palladino that you know she and her husband Daniel Palladino had to be steering the whole production, and thankfully, they were doing just that.
Alexis Bledsel has grown as an actress, and while I always enjoyed her in the series, I found her performance to be more mature and natural as the grown-up Rory. Lauren Graham could hardly get any better, and she’s returned to the character of Lorelai with ease and the same sense of fun and wonder.
A character you didn’t see in the original Gilmore Girls is that of Violet, leading lady of the Stars Hollow musical, played by Sutton Foster. For those of you don’t know, this current star of the TVLand series Younger starred in the short-lived show Bunheads, also created by Ms. Sherman-Palladino. She’s well-cast as the hard-edged Violet, who gives a great performance in the world’s worst musical ever.
Years ago, when I was living with my mom, we would watch Gilmore Girls together every week. It was our thing. The only way today’s marathon could have been better for me would have been to have shared it with her, and next time I travel to Minneapolis, we’re settling in for a few hours with Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
And I’m bringing some kleenex for the final scenes. We Gilmore Girls fans finally got the ending we deserved all along.
All Who Are Weary, Eat
This Thanksgiving I’ll be with four other people who find themselves in much the same position I’m in: living in a city without family nearby to spend the holidays with. I have some cousins, second cousins, actually, living 20 or 30 minutes away, but seeing them would be much like seeing strangers.
I’ve had three invitations from local friends to join their family, and there’s a part of me that would like to have accepted their generosity. But truthfully, there’s a bigger part of me that looks forward to the time after the meal, when I come home and spend the time with my cats, knitting and watching classic movies.
I’ll enjoy my holiday, I have no doubt about it, both the time with friends and the time alone. I know two of the four people who will be sharing a meal with me; I believe I’ve met the other two but have barely spoken to them. Still, the two I do know are fun, and one of them in particular “gets” me. I’m free to be myself, quiet or goofy, whichever side comes out.
Growing up, I don’t really remember much about how we celebrated Thanksgiving. I believe we included friends who, like me today, have no family nearby with whom they can share the traditions and turkey, but I don’t remember any of them in particular.
I do remember, in my twenties, my mom and stepdad included a Russian couple and their grown daughter, and, for that matter, her fiancé (both were medical students, as I recall). Lisa, Misha and Olga were Russian Jews who had faced persecution under the Soviet Union, and they emigrated to the United States sometime while Olga was still fairly young. Misha, who had an advanced degree, was forced to take a job delivering pizza. Lisa was also highly educated, and she learned how to do nails to make a living. She did my mom’s nails; that was how they met.
It was appropriate to have immigrants at our Thanksgiving table. The tale we’re told of the first Thanksgiving is similar, with a group of European immigrants breaking bread with the Native Americans.
So as we celebrate with our family, friends, or by ourselves, let our thoughts include all those who face adversity in seeking a better, safer life. We cannot become complacent in the lives we lead. We must remember the sacrifices others made for us to give us what we have today, and be willing to open our doors to others who seek the same for the generations of their family to come.
God bless us, everyone.
Collecting Memories
It all started with my new job.
We were responsible for the marketing for a wine festival, then the fourth largest in the country. I started that job only days before the event and barely knew what was expected of me, let alone what was the protocol at a wine tasting. One of the agency’s account executives taught me about sipping the wine, swirling it around in my mouth and spitting it back. That’s the proper thing to do at a wine tasting. It’s also a little unseemly.
Each of the guests, and the publicity team members were all guests, was given a hand-painted pewter winestopper and a small bottle of Pinot Grigios. What happened to the wine I’ve long forgotten, but that stopper started my bottlestopper collection, and what a collection it is.
There are only ten, but each is a work of art. Or not — a few are very commercial. But the rest are made of finest crystal, hand-spun glass or, like the first, pewter. They are beautiful.
The second stopper I added to my collection was another hand-painted pewter piece my mom had received as a gift from a man she briefly dated. It’s the only one that’s been used. After that, I went to craft fairs, specialty shops and most recently, Pier One, to find the latest addition.
There’s the Map of the World, bought with a friend visiting me from overseas. The two made of Murano blown glass, given by different friends in the same year. The leaf I bought with my friend Karen.
The Versaci Medusa Head crystal stopper is the showpiece of my collection. My mom gave it to me years ago, and I treasure it. She also gave me the Arkansas Razorbacks souvenir bottle stopper for the other end of the class spectrum (it has none).
For years I searched for a way to display them, and finally my mom found a bottlestopper display rack, which she gave me a few Christmases ago. Or for my birthday. I forget exactly. It took awhile to find the space to set the whole thing up, but finally, I have it.
It reminds me of better times, of lost and lasting friendships, of challenges that seemed overwhelming yet were inevitably overcome. People who might otherwise be forgotten are brought to mind, and I smile at the memory.
The irony, although it will help preserve these pieces, is I rarely, if ever, drink wine, or any other alcohol, for that matter. But I love the stoppers.
Collections tell stories. They are worth more than their pieces. They are our history.
My World With Words 
You must be logged in to post a comment.