August 2, 2005

  • On 7 and 17

    My mother recently unearthed the following 1978 memo from my father
    (then a workaholic wageearner) to me (then a bright but highly rebellious
    aspiring teenaged writer):

    "Dear Faith,
            Your mission, in the extremely unlikely event that you should choose to accept it.
            Continue the following plot:

            Harrased mother is confronted by daughter who:
                spurns her advice   
                rejects her affections
                ridicules her gifts
                criticizes her deportment
                insults her intelligence
                devours without thanks her
                    food
                    labor
                    shelter
                    funds   
                    freedom
                    energy
                    love."

    Fortunately (in some ways), plot continuation was
    unlikely at 17; however two and a half decades further on I can without
    any hesitation propose the following:

    ".....and eventually bears a daughter who repeats same."

Comments (15)

  • And the circle of life goes on...

    Thanks for making me chuckle

  • ha!  now that's worth framing for later reference. 

  • BRILLIANT letter from your dad.

    Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it? Hah.

  • Are you going to task her with a similar mission?

  • That letter should be published in a damn high school literature book.  For serious.  Good, good stuff.

  • This was a good read for a father who is dealing with a daughter who is struggling to out-grow teenagerness.  Seeing how well the main character "evolved" in your story gives hope to one who often can't forsee a happy ending for a daughter who appears to be so entrenched in Act II of a four act play.

  • lol...........thanks for posting that

  • your Dad was a bit fierce, wasn't he? Good advice though

    ryc: yes we do seem to have overlaps, and it's almost impossible to separate actor from character at times, so goodness only knows what I'd do if I ever met any of my screen heros - something embarrassing, no doubt ;)

  • Hee hee - since my daughter was born I've had a couple dreams of myself as a teenager, arguing with my mother. 

  • the age old threat from parents, to have a kid like yourself.

  • ha!  that's classic.  clever dad.  and, yes, I had hoped to wait until my child was around 17 to have to utter those words... but my almost 8-year-old is well on his way to needing such a memo!

  • WOW.  I can see where you get your articulate nature.  Mom is a smart cookie... and she saved that KNOWing that you'd have children who would do the same exact thing to you!!!  Moms love rubbing stuff in your face, don't they???  *lol*

  • I agree.  Frame it.  It's the ultimate in "Someday you're going to have a daughter just like you"

    Mother's revenge...

  • Ah, yes.  Perfect.  There's an 11-year-old girl we're mentoring, a child in a single-parent household.  I'm glad my printer's working.

  • LOL... yeah, I needed that reminder... My dad could have written that to me, and I could have added what you did under it, too.   We will survive.  

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