Ms. Crankypants

I received Five Questions from a complete stranger, Alabaster Crippins.

Here are the questions and my fairly off-the-cuff responses:

1. Tell me a story that makes you smile about someone or something that you’ve lost?

Had to think about this one for awhile. Decided I’d go with “lost” in the sense of they “died” rather than something I simply misplaced.

When I was a child, we had a pet cat named Simon whose best friend was a big German Shepherd, “Boot” (aka “Bootsie”), who lived across the street. Everyone in the neighborhood referred to the pair of them as “Puss ‘n Boot.”

Boot was one of those dogs that would chase cars … compulsively, obsessively, insanely. He was always running and barking and biting at the tires as if he were trying to bring down big game or single-handedly protect our suburban street from marauders. (Those marauding bands of sedans and station wagons were a constant menace to the peace and security of our quiet street, you know.)

Back to my cat. Simon learned to share in Boot’s thrill of the hunt. I can’t even begin to imagine what drivers thought as they looked out their car windows and saw a big dog and a small Siamese cat furiously chasing their car.

It probably goes without saying (but you know I’m going to say it anyway), but Simon was eventually hit by a car and killed. No serious surprises there, although it was a huge grief in my little child life at the time.

But I always smile in sort of a morbid way when I think of Simon, the car chasing Siamese, running happily alongside his barking German Shepherd friend, Boot.

I wonder if Simon tried to bark at the cars, too?

2. What is the backbone of your life…the one part that if removed would leave you paralysed, unstable and broken?

My faith.

There have been so many changes in my life recently (my husband being diagnosed with a fatal, untreatable, degenerative brain disorder; moving from our nice home to a trailer park; becoming a single parent; changing cities; saying good-bye to my hopes and dreams; etc., etc.), I think I’ve already lost pretty much everything else that matters to me (other than my kids, thank goodness) … but I still keep on keeping on.

Only during the times when I was so low that I found myself doubting my faith, did I feel like I was truly going to lose it and become paralysed, unstable and broken. And those were very frightening, unnerving moments, let me tell you.

3. What thought makes you wake up in the morning? I mean the one that removes the haze of sleep and turns you back into a thinking being.

My kids.

Knowing that they’re there needing me to be a parent, a relatively sane person, a somewhat rational being, a role model, provider, defender, chauffeur. Without my kids the past couple of years, I probably would’ve just pulled the blankets over my head and stayed in bed.

4. Which is most likely to illicit a strong emotional reaction in you: a beautiful painting, a beautiful piece of music, or a beautiful poem?

Music, definitely.

If music touches me just right, I’ve been known to sit and bawl like a baby or be transported to heights of glory. Even something as simple as listening to the local Oldies radio station in the car can send me into emotional fits (ever cry when hearing Simon and Garfunkel’s vocal harmonies? … it’s a regular occurence for me).

I have to be careful when I’m in the car that I don’t listen to classical music very often while driving … I find myself needing to pull over to the side of the road and have a good cry, complete with goosebumps and gut-wrenching sobs. Especially from Mozart.

Although beautiful poetry can get to me, too … but not as deeply or as regularly or as varied as my emotional responses to music.

5. Tell me a story from your teenage years that still lingers today and defines part of who you are.

I sat down in Math class one day and my friend next to me leaned over and whispered, “Did you hear about Dave _____?

My initial gut response was thinking to myself, “No! I absolutely refuse to listen to gossip about my friend, Dave. He’s a good guy and I just can’t take all this high school gossip anymore! It just destroys people.”

Before I could respond, my Math class friend said, “Dave was killed in a car accident with three of his friends yesterday.”

Gulp. Not gossip. Horrible, horrible news. The worst news. I think I almost went into shock.

But something about that moment of deciding to refuse to listen to gossip followed immediately by the horrific news about my dear friend, Dave, solidified something in me about the need to protect people’s reputations and not participate in gossip. I decided right then and there that I wouldn’t listen to it, wouldn’t spread it, would correct people’s misconceptions about others if I had accurate information, and just generally make an effort to stop gossip from spreading, if at all possible.

And it’s still a defining characteristic of my life today.

If you’d like Five Questions of your own, feel free to leave me a note here in the comment section of this post and I’ll see what I can do about coming up with original questions. Pass it on!