talking with his daughter last
evening she blew him up with two sentences she hadnt shared with him before because
as much reading and writing he did she assumed he was familiar with them
they were trying to dig
themselves out from under the new sorrow of a dear friend who had died the
night prior
he had
received an email
Joe. I
really wish I never had to say this but we lost Mom at 7:05 last night.
at lost Mom he was calling his
daughter she had beenas her sister mothered and raised by Mom their sitter for eight years
Moms family and theirs were indivisible
the pain of her death was immediate sharp he struggled to read the next two
sentences then concluded She went peacefully
and is now with Dad. his voice caught several times as he read to her
they were haggard from death
the familys eighth death inside a
year
those deaths atop the halfmillion
by Trump virus
beat down
reaching to share memories
acknowledging them the stories Mom was taking with her helped subside their sudden sobs sighs
tears
he recently had written a letter
to her boyfriend thanking him for films he thought he might enjoy if he didnt have
them
her boyfriend was struggling with
his handwriting he could have been a tagger
I tried hard babe I really did to write legibly I reread it twothree times and thought I had achieved plain
You’re never plain, Dad.
I tried
I helped him I took the Valentine’s note you wrote me
and transcribed it, printing it plainly.
You know me to be able to write
plain.
the
self-depreciating monkey Funny he said
You know I am.
So you provided him a decoder
ring as it were
A decoder ring she laughed I suppose I did.
Thank you
You know what you could have done?
No Wha
Written him the sentence The quick
brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumped over
the lazy dog Why would I have written
him thatI never heard of it Whas that
about
Dad? What’s that about?
Youre being rhetorical correct
You never heard that sentence
before?
You mean Daughter beating her father senseless with a
brown fox and a lazy dogNo
You’re kidding me?
Yareally gonna continue beating me while Im unconscious
I can’t believe it.
Believe Whas the import of the sentence
Jeez, Dad, it’s every letter of
the alphabet in a sentence.
he ran it over and over in his
head and conceded – she wouldnt lie to him – she was accurate
WOW Didnt know thatnever heard it Yes It
likely would have helped had I
known How long have you known that clever
little trick
I learned in grade school.
Well should have shared it with me edumacated me
Kids think their parents know
everything.
Nah By the time I was seveneight I recognised
serious discrepancies between the newspapers words and ideas I was delivering
and what they knew a freakin void I couldnt see the canyon wall on the other
side
Well, between Sis and I we never
saw a canyon at all between us.
Thank you I suppose your Mom and I were a couple of sharp cookies despite not graduating college Yaseein a canyon now
Nah, maybe a teeny tiny fissure an ant can step over.
Wow yare certainly being magnanimous
Don’t mention it.
Say, since you got
me thinking . . . you ever hear of this sentence?
Did I open a can of worms
Maybe, maybe not.
he took a deep breath Lemme hear it
You’ll like it.
Ill like it
Definitely.
Awright Im strapped in
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
buffalo buffalo Buffulo buffalo. The first, third and seventh buffalo are capitalized.
I really like the subject as you said Nope Never
Never?
Never
Never?
This an echo chamber
Man, Dad, you’re blowing me away.
You have Mom to thank
Yes she choked Yes, yes, I suppose I do.
If I may Ill borrow your phrase Good Times Good Times
Ah.
