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I love wysteria. We had it at our house in Centerport, LI when I was a kid. This is growing on a building on 13th Street. This is Manhattan!!
Today I’m a little stunned. I finished the last chapter of the book in just a few days. I may decide to go back and do something more with it, but for now I think I can move onto the epilogue.
Can I just say: I’m freaking terrified of this epilogue. Even though I hopefully have already done this with the whole of the book, now I’m supposed to provide some perspective about the subject by whatever I chose to do with this looking back, summing-up, here’s-where-it-all-ended-up chapter. So that’s scary about it. Who am I to provide perspective to a subject I have not spent one day of my life participating in, but only reading about and to some extent, watching? You know, I feel like a criminal profiler who has just spent all this time trying to get into the heads of my killers/scientists. Plus, I’ve got a pile of books and papers that I planned to read first, but I’ve only got a month to work on this, so that’s not going to happen. So, I’m uninformed.
I mean, you see the insanity of it, right? I know from past experience I will manage, but still. How? HOW??
My friend Jonathan just IM’ed me to ask me if I wanted to go see Spiderman this morning. I think that’s how I’ll do it — by going to see Spiderman. That will totally work.
I had a wisteria at my old house that had not ever bloomed in the several years since I’d planted it. Then in the time between when I sold my house and when I moved it bloomed beautifully for the first time and it was like a poignant farewell. Now I have another one I planted in my current yard and it blooms beautifully every year…
I like the “update where everyone ended up” idea. I always enjoy those at the end of documentaries…
I vote for the post-shower, wavy version of your new fabulous haircut. Says, Look how cool and carefree I am without even trying…
(Try holding the camera beside your head near your ear to take the photo in the mirror.)
Your brother Pete remembers that wisteria very well – He loves them too because of that-I gave him 1 for our 5th Wedding Anniversary. It grew like crazy but never bloomed. He was very frustrated that it would never bloom. The spring after my mother died we were sitting on the back patio looking at it and he was considering cutting it down but I said if ever there was a time for my mother to send a signal that she was up in heaven this was it and to make it bloom. Wouldn’t you know a week later there was like 100 buds getting ready to bloom. The thing has bloomed ever since and always reminds your brother of being a kid in Centerport. That you would appreciate that story.
Someone…it might have been Tennessee Williams, who called it “mysteria”. A much better name.
As for Spiderman, why wouldn’t it work and solve your problem? Give me one good reason.
Stacy, It sounds like u want to go beyond “manage”. I thought the epiloge for Restless… was great. Books like the one you are writing and Restless.. are views through a time exposed len, but even here the lens has to shut sometime. I know how flustrating this ‘incomplete’ feeling can be. I just know u will work through it. I guess this is how sequels come to be written.
Oh Karen, that is such a great story. Thank you! I love that we all love wysteria/mysteria. And thank you for the encouragement Michael.
And Spiderman was fun!