“How’s that possible? Every friend I’ve met seems well aware of your health fears.”
“Did YOU read my blog? Where’s your sense of humor? I was consoling myself that you weren’t home on Mother’s Day.”
Of course it’s true that I’m not looking forward to living with the mess and chaos Max brings with him, but that’s very different from not wanting him to come home. I’m sure Max is not looking forward to being nagged to clean his room, lock the front door and take his key. These parental demands are not new or startling news bulletins.
“Okay, Mom, but do you have to post your blog on the alumnae site?”
“He has a point there,” Henry interjects.
“It’s complicated. I’ll think about it,” I offer. Max’s alma mater and mine are the same, so it’s not clear who has dibs on that site. “Anyway, in another week you’ll have graduated, and your friends will lose interest in reading my blog—which isn’t only about you—and will move on to other things. “
“Maybe you should skip the college site,” Henry suggests after we hang up, “if it bothers him so much.”
“And maybe if he cleaned up his act—which bothers me so much—it wouldn’t matter.”
Suddenly I’ve made up my mind. I remember the famous quote by Virginia Wolf in response to a poem, “Angel in the House,” about a Victorian housewife. Virginia Woolf said: “Killing the ‘Angel in the House’ is part of the occupation of the woman writer.” She describes the “angel” as “that selfless, sacrificial woman in the 19thcentury, whose sole purpose in life was to soothe, flatter and comfort the male half of the world’s population.” So now that it’s 200 years later, there’s no way I’m going to play the angel.
Besides, I’ve been a Virginia Woolf fan ever since reading “A Room of One’s Own.” However, I don’t have my own office in our modern-day, cramped Manhattan apartment. Space is at a premium here, yet both of my kids have their own rooms. Please don’t be disappointed in me, Virginia, because I do have a desk and a computer of my own. This coveted space is all mine, even if it’s only a corner of the living room. Max may be the stand-up comedian in our home, but I am entitled to my own sense of humor. Of course, Max and I enjoy some of the same comedians, including Mel Brooks, who said: “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”
I love this one! A great tribute to Virginia Woolf too. Can you believe her remarks are as relevant today as when she offered them?
I love this one! A great tribute to Virginia Woolf too. Can you believe her remarks are as relevant today as when she offered them?
I read so much Virginia Woolf and the rest of the Bloomsbury Group in college, they're still coming out of my nose.
I read so much Virginia Woolf and the rest of the Bloomsbury Group in college, they're still coming out of my nose.
Two different views on Virginia Wolf. I guess women are more likely to be admirers. The fact that she is still so relevant means to me that women still have a long way to go.
Two different views on Virginia Wolf. I guess women are more likely to be admirers. The fact that she is still so relevant means to me that women still have a long way to go.
Irwin, where did you go to school that they made you read so much Virginia Woolf? I recall getting angry at her when she killed off a whole family in a paragraph of To The Lighthouse. Do you remember that one?
Irwin, where did you go to school that they made you read so much Virginia Woolf? I recall getting angry at her when she killed off a whole family in a paragraph of To The Lighthouse. Do you remember that one?