End of Part 42 - Advent

Saturday, November 26^th.

As we near Vig’s 43 birthday, we find Rolf and Vig having a Thanksgiving Feast: alone. The roommates are away, the mood is elegant, and the lovers are in love.

Vig’s Mom, 70, is waiting for test results to determine if she, again, has cancer.
Vig’s Father, 74, is proclaiming that he believes Mom is fine, and the test results will prove it: even as his own faculties deteriorate.
Vig’s sister, Joy, 50, two weeks away from her divorce, is keeping herself busy to avoid the feelings of loss during the holidays. At this time she is on vacation in Germany.
Vig’s niece, Shannon, 24, is happily settling into her second year of marriage, her new job at the Department of Defense, as well as a newly constructed apartment in Mom & Dad’s basement. There’s been no hint of bi-polar disorder for weeks.
Vig’s nephew, Russ, 23, has a girlfriend we all like and hope he will marry. He is very irritated that he has to help do everything in the house that his father had done, such as fix stuff and paint. But, even so, he’s a good kid and is glad to be a rock for his mom to lean on.

Neither Russ nor Shannon has seen their father since March. He has left scaring messages for them at times, and then called and left loving messages hoping for reconciliation. It has been traumatic.

Vig’s friends

Bemmy, 45, sometimes referred to as our Big Gay Son, lives downstairs in our house, although right now he is away at camp, or so it seems. Actually, he is Mr. Bumble in Oliver at Olney Theatre, and he is staying at the residence there (as it is an hour and a half away. Besides, every other time the phone rings at home, it is a creditor chasing him down.) He is presenting himself as though he’s finally taking care of his health. He is more than a several hundred pounds overweight. The last time we saw him, in October, he seemed to be committed to the diet program his doctor put him on. (This time.) It has been three years since he’s been “on the boards”, and as I, and most everyone who know him, would agree that he is a world class talent; we all hope that somehow he will get onto the world stage.
SMJ – (age unknown) Or StraightManJoe. . . or is he? . . . is a border in our house. At times it feels like we are living with Ghandi himself. Having survived a night on a mountain near Seattle while wearing only a sweatshirt and Converse sneakers, during which a freak snowstorm stranded him for several days (the result of which was the amputation of his toes and the pads of his feet, reconstruction of his nose which was frozen off, and 9 root canals in three days to remove the thawed out, but rotten pulp in order to save his teeth,) as well as surviving the loss of his wife, the mother of his children, to cancer; nothing upsets him. Upheaval, death, job loss, possible jail time for his brother: bother him no more than the smallest splinter.
Tomas – 45, who you might mistake for Oprah Winfrey in the big girl years if you saw him at Ziegfields – or, if he was out in the real world in his daily drag, you might think that what you saw was Queen Elizabeth herself pretending to be a fat black man: was told four days before he lost his job that he had to schedule surgery to receive the transplant of a new cornea.
Puck and Memae – 44 and 42 r., are settled into a wonderful townhouse now that they’ve relocated from Phoenix. However, neither has yet found a job, and the money from the sale of their house in Phoenix is only going to carry them so far. (Of all the wonderful things that have happened to me this year, including the award winning Ruthless! The Musical, appearing as Mr. Walker in Tommy, and a wonderful vacation in Provincetown – having Puck come back is the best of all.)
K. – 58, who was evicted from her apartment in June after being without a full time job for a year, settled into a two bedroom apartment with a (nearly) 50yr. old quadriplegic, Clark, who has cerebral palsy. He had moved from a one bedroom apartment to a two bedroom apartment in order to have someone there at night incase he had a problem such as a seizure or fall. As of last week, they are engaged. Now they are preparing to move back to the one bedroom apartment, much to the alarm of both their families.

Rolf - ever 29 (as is his mother) - is trying very hard to make me happy. Some rough edges had grown on each of us. The shearing is painful. He and SMJ are preparing to start a business that will either sell something or offer a service. . . I thought I knew what the something was, but then they switched to the service. . and I forgot what the original something was. . but now there back to trying to create and sell something or other.

Vig - 42 - continues in therapy with a therapist with such a funny name you would not believe. While the antidepressant would work better if he didn't drink every day, he is still elated that someone has given him some pot. His job is currently scheduled to end on March 5.

Here, in the dark beginning of Advent; part 43 begins.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.