No one puts baby in the corner

Humor: it's one current among many that graciously carries us through the most severe and even stagnant of moments. I have a go-to memory of Craig that will always crack me up during times when I don't feel like laughing.



The four of us were returning to Craig's car after having dinner at a restaurant in Denver. As per usual, we were bee-bopping to our own tune until we heard someone honk at us. Oh, uh-uh. You just don't interrupt our merriment on a dime, and especially not by honking at folks already getting into their car. Craig IMMEDIATELY said, "What's the hurry minivan--late for soccer practice?” Instead of moving faster, we paused to marvel at the alacrity of Craig's wiseass comeback and nearly hi-5ed each other. Whether it's Latin dancing in his apartment until we were all sweaty, red-faced and in pain from smiling; remaking 'Thriller' in a statue cemetery or peaking out from behind rocks and trees in dramatic fashion in Lithuania; making any moment a trash talking/quasi-competitive event; or spontaneously breaking into song, complete with jazz hands, the four of us have always, and without hesitation, been willing partners in being absurd. Even the “rents” chime in, or at least become cast members in our wild imagination. I’ll never forget the time during my recent trip to Oklahoma (prior to heading for Denver) when Diane was wheeling mom through the front door. She closed the door behind her and said “Erin, Erin look look look” and she put mom in the corner and left her. We CRACKED up and said, “no one puts Baby [Mama] in the Corner” a la Dirty Dancing. Mom laughed and went along with it. Another time, I wheeled Mom into the kitchen and she grabbed her walker and started pushing it as I pushed her. The image was so ridiculous. Safety First! It's times like those where the world dissolves and nothing else matters save that of the “here and now” with family.

The current absurdity is of a different sort and one we did not invite nor wander into voluntary. Yet, it is here and we can either sit in a corner paralyzed by it or we can relish in those prized and stolen moments of being absurd even among the absurdity. -- E