A Vignette of Sorts

Whatever my father had was, for him, just what he had always wanted to have. My mother as his wife, a daughter as his only child, his stuff, his experiences -- whatever. Whatever he didn't have was, for him, just what he had never wanted in the first place. The glamorous old flame as his wife, a few sons and a daughter or two, a Steinway concert grand, a gallop on an Arabian stallion -- whatever. Because the name "Arthur" was his name, he loved it. He loved his middle name "Everett." He even thought his odd last name was just fine. How could I ever avoid naming a son "Arthur" without hurting Dad's feelings? Mother, as usual, had the answer. "Marry a man with the surname "Mometer."

I think of my father as "Act." I remember the things he did rather than the things he said. Over the years, he gave me four items of advice which can be quoted "in isolation." All else, including his witty sayings, makes sense only as part of a story.
Teach yourself to enjoy doing whatever you have to do.
Attitude is everything.
Don't judge people. 99% of the time you'll be wrong, so why bother?
Women with faces shaped like yours shouldn't wear bangs.

Mother was grateful every day of her life that she had married my father. She often said she was the luckiest woman alive. She got to live with her two best friends. My father was her best friend, and I was her second best friend. I, of course, wanted to be her best friend, but I knew that her priorities were somehow -- right.

I think of my mother primarily as "Word," and so do those who knew her. "I'll never forget what your mother said when such and such happened." She spoke French, German, Spanish, and Italian fluently. She read Latin as easily as English. She said she never heard my father make a grammatical error. She also said she read an article in the Reader's Digest that listed 29 trite expressions. To her horror she used 28 of them regularly.

Each of my parents was a great individual albeit a quirky individual. Together they were dynamite.

And I'm still hunting for a man named "Mometer."

Oh dear, there is a radio personality in Florida named Arthur Mometer.