Happy Birthday #93 was a hard act to follow
because only fifty of my Mother's birthdays
were spent on terra firma.
Gratitude for Mrs. CarPeo's card is exceeded
only by my gratitude for her understanding
why February 15 is more important to me
than Valentine's Day.*
Mr. & Mrs. CarPeo celebrated Valentine's Day
the best way humanly possible: privately.
A splendid time was had by both!
But now it is the morning after
the morning after...
I grope for meaningful words.
I hope to find wisdom.
Rather than climb the nearest mountain with a a guru on top,
I reach for a book by Flann O'Brien, a man of many names
and ten times as many talents.
Modern writing, it is hoped, has passed
the stage when simple events are stated
in the void without any clue as to
the pschological and hereditary
forces behind them.
Flann O'Brien nee Brian O'Nolan
a/k/a Myles na Gopaleen
John Duffy's Brother
Think of Flann O'Brien
as Ireland's best-kept
military secret.
His novels, journalism,
short stories, and plays
are explosively funny.
BUT...
This page began with a reference to my Mother.
Therefore, I also needed a quote about motherhood.
The fate of the mother we exalt at present—on screen and in sob story.
Flatter her, “respect” her—and leave her alone. She never had
the imagination to consider her children as persons
when they were young, so they are unable
to think of her as a person when she is old.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
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*Footnotes
Another of Mrs. CarPeo's cards for my Mother's 93rd birthday
is at the top of the 2-DIE-4 PHOTO GALLERY.
It is located between the Wind & the Window.
Hopefully, a third variation of Mrs. CarPeo's birthay card
will appear on these pages February 15, 2014.
The specific FLANN O'BRIEN book I reached for–Stories and Plays–
is available from the Long Beach Public Library.
The next Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald page is here.
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