Thursday, March 02, 2006

The Grandma in "Parenthood"

There's a movie called Parenthood, directed by Ron Howard and starring Steve Martin as part of an all-star cast. As a caution to those who have not seen it - it has some really raunchy stuff which is unfortunate, because there are also some profoundly positive messages in the storyline. I wish there were a way to keep the good parts and trash the rest, because it really pushes the PG-13 envelope. So I'm not necessarily recommending that you go see it. But anyway...to my point...

There is one scene where the grandmother is leaving the house, but she stops in the room where Steve Martin's character is talking to his wife (played by Mary Steenburgen). She makes a very sweet and wise statement about life being like a rollercoaster, and how she liked it (the ups and downs and the excitement) as opposed to the merry-go-round, which just goes around and around. As the grandmother exits the room and goes out to the car to wait for them, Mary Steenburgen comments on how brilliant she was. Steve Martin peeks out the window and says, "Oh, yeah? Well if she's so brilliant, why is she sitting in our neighbor's car?" It's a very funny moment.

Today I felt like the grandma in Parenthood. Sometimes I feel like I have moments of brilliance, and then I can't figure out where my shoes are. Or I can count backwards from 100 by sevens with no problem, but I have to think hard to remember whether I took my morning medication. It's so silly! I remind myself that it must be simple distraction and nothing to worry about. So far everything looks fine for now.

Oops - gotta go and take my evening medication before I forget!

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