I’m still reading His Family by Ernest Poole with no problems what so ever. In fact, I did a little something, something, which is why I hadn’t updated the blog in a couple of weeks, but here goes—I put the book on pause. I know that’s not really dramatic, but hear me out for a moment. I wanted to see if I could get back into reading it after a healthy pause. I got back to it a couple of days ago to see if I could get right back into it—and wouldn’t you know it? I had! The writing is out of date by George—yes, he actually wrote ‘by George’—but being able to get back into is a redeeming quality.
There was another reason why I put the book on hold for a couple of weeks—and I should mention there’s a spoiler alert a-coming. The story takes a very dark turn when Edith’s husband Bruce gets killed in a motor accident while out and about with the family. Even though I called this book a family sitcom, Bruce’s death actually hit me in a couple of ways. It reminded me of the ‘very special episodes’ that family sitcoms sometimes aired. It also reminded me that death is a fact of life and I felt like I needed to think about that some.
I looked back at some of the very special episodes of famous sitcoms. Most of them dealt with sexual assault but there were a few of them that actually dealt with death. The most famous of these episodes came from Family Ties with Michael J. Fox. The episode entitled A, My Name Is Alex, deals with Alex P. Keaton’s friend dying in an accident and how he deals with it. It was a two part episode that aired in 1987. Part two of the episode is the most memorable because its set up like the play Our Town.
Did you ever see that play? I did—years ago. What I remember most about that play was the little to no sets the play used. The actors actually went so far as to mime certain actions like in one instance one of the actors pretended to drink a milkshake. Our Town if you don’t know is the story of how a couple fall in love and how they deal with death.
How we deal with death is as important as how we deal with life. Its a sentiment that I agree with as grief is the price we pay for loving someone. What we fail to understand is that every person’s grief is their own. No two experiences are alike. And you cannot understand a person’s grief unless you yourself have experienced it. People I have known in my life have of course passed away, and I never felt anything. That is because I didn’t know them enough to love them. There are people in my life that I love who are still with me and I know that I will grieve for them when they pass.
Bruce manages to linger on a bit. His final few hours are pretty sappy because he’s trying to tell everyone to be brave and the likes. I doubt that something like that can happen, but part of me wishes that it could which would make grief a little easier to handle. I’m sure people wouldn’t mind the sappiness either if it meant their loved ones lasted a little while longer.
It was only recently that I accepted the fact that my loved ones are getting older and that soon they’ll pass away. I started crying when that happened. A friend of mine had said that I was prematurely grieving, which come find out is actually a thing. I was a blubbering mess, so I hate to think of how I’ll react when my loved ones go away.
Edith and the children move in with Roger, and the eldest of the children—George—becomes the man of the family. Edith is sent on vacation and the life after death part picks up with all the final bills and obligations that Bruce has. Death may be a release but it can put your loved ones who are left behind in a pickle as they have to close out your accounts.
Short entry this week but will try and make a longer entry next time. I am officially half way through the book! Until then!
