Saturday, September 4, 2021

Quirky is good

Mrs. RWP and I haven't been to the movies in years, nor have we ever watched some of the apparently very popular stuff presented on the boob tube like Game Of Thrones and House Of Cards and The Walking Dead, not a single episode of any of them. Call us crazy, but neither of us is interested in reading, watching, or spending one red cent on stuff like The Hunger Games or The Handmaid's Tale.

I suppose that we are quirky, although quirky is in the eye of the beholder.

I like quirky things, though.

Here are some movies that I like:

Purple Rose Of Cairo
Big Fish
Field Of Dreams
Harold And Maude
Raising Arizona

and here are some television series that I like (or, to be more accurate, that I liked):

Thirtysomething
My So-Called Life
Six Feet Under
Twin Peaks
Northern Exposure
Quantum Leap
Star Trek, The Next Generation

I am definitely quirky, but it's all right.

I like quirky. Fantasy quirky, not violent or dystopian quirky.

There is a Latin phrase that applies here: De gustibus non est disputandum (In matters of taste, there can be no disputes).

Moving right along....

Around the end of April we made some new old friends, Paul and Mary Louise Storey. Paul is 94 and Mary Louise is 92, and they have been married for 72 years. One of their daughters is 70 and another died in her early sixties. Mary Louise is fine both mentally and physically but Paul was beginning to show some signs of Alzheimers. He loved to tell us about his many years with the Lockheed Corporation and his several trips to the Ukraine. A quiet, sweet, unassuming couple, they began attending our church last winter and started coming to the small "People Group" we belong to (the church now has 12 such groups) that meets in someone's home every other Sunday afternoon from 4:30 to 6:30 for a potluck dinner. Mary Louise always brought a congealed whipped creamy orange-flavored salad or dessert (it could be either) that everyone raved about. The people groups were suspended for the summer but started up again for the fall last weekend. Our new friends Paul and Mary Louise were not there because both of them tested positive for Covid-19 in late August and were quarantining themselves. Paul's condition became serious enough that Mary Louise called an ambulance on the Saturday night before our first small-group get-together of the season and Paul was admitted into the hospital. Mary Louise was not allowed to enter because of the hospital's pandemic rules. Paul, without Mary Louise there to oversee things, kept pulling out his IV lines and oxygen tubes. Mary Louise was desperate to get him out of there or at least be able to be with him. On Wednesday Paul's condition improved somewhat and he seemed to be rallying, but on Thursday two things happened. Mary Louise fell at home and broke her ankle and Paul's condition worsened to the point that the doctor recommended moving him into hospice. On Friday, Mary Louise was able to spend the entire day with Paul at the hospice with the help of their grandaughter.

This morning we have received word that Paul died during the night. Although we didn't know him long, I will miss him.

One thing I know. Paul and Mary Louise Storey are not quirky. They are the salt of the earth.

11 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to learn of the death of your friend Paul. My best wishes to his family.
    The only one of your favorites that I ever saw was Quantum Leap. It was a good show.

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    1. Thank you, Emma, for your condolences.

      Quantum Leap was a keeper and Scott Bakula made it even better.

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  2. They led good lives by the sound of it and sorry that Paul has died and Mary Lousie will now be on her own. That is the worst part of this story. I like people who are the salt of the earth. I know many in my small circle of friends.

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    1. Thank you, Rachel, for your kind thoughts. Mary Louise will have someone staying with her 24 hours a day for a while, at least until her ankle heals.

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  3. I'm sorry to hear of Paul's death. I'm glad Mary Louise was able to spend the day with him. I think one of the saddest parts of Covid is that so many people have died alone. Salt of the earth people are the best.

    From your list, Thirtysomething was one of my favorite shows and I was sorry when it ended. Twin Peaks was a favorite around our house too. Now that one is quirky!

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    1. Bonnie, thank you. Their last day together was a special blessing.

      Twin Peaks, Six Feet Under, and Northern Exposure all rank pretty high on the quirkiness scale. Did you know that Timothy Bustrand, the red-haired house on Thirtysomething and Kevin Costner’s brother-in-law in Field of Dreams, is married to Melissa Gilbert who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House On The Prairie? It’s a fact!

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  4. Hello RWP. I am so sorry to hear of your Mary Louise's injury and loss of husband Paul. We lost a friend to Covid as well. Difficult and stressful times, for sure.
    I think I've seen an episode or two of the Star Trek thing, but no others. I'm not much for TV or movies - maybe once in a great while. Books. I like books.

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    1. Pam, it’s so good to hear from you again. Thank you for your expression of sympathy. I have wondered how you and your family were faring doing this pandemic.

      We were without television for a few years until our son’s 4th-grade teacher made science assignments that required watching National Geographic specials, so we caved and bought our first color set. Of course, that was back in 1973 and our son will be 57 this month, so I suppose it is no longer a valid excuse.

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  5. Quirky and salt of the earth can co-exist.
    I'm sorry you have lost yet another friend to covid and I'm sorry that Mary Louise is alone now.

    Although I have heard of all those TV shows, I never watched any of them. I like quirky English TV

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  6. kylie, thank you. Paul is the fourth personal friend of ours who has died due to Covid-19, and we know lots of people who have had it and survived.

    Sometimes I think quirky is a prerequisite for being consistent salt of the earth. One of my favorite things to say is “When all the world is advocating A, I consider the merits of B,” and if that isn’t quirky I don’t know what is.

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    1. That's a very good point. "salt of the earth" = counter cultural

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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