Good Monday! I survived the klondike bar incident. Saturday at Di and Ike's house, the Ranch, Reid had two Reeses Klondike bars. I tasted one. It was...tasty. I had some in the freezer for him. Last night I ate part of one. I am allergic to butter fat, which is what ice cream is. Enough said there.
So, Di...
I wish you all knew her. Everyone who knows her is better off.
Here's an anecdote I want to relate.
Di and Ike are big Rock Band fans. You're right Drew, that is indeed the Beatles Rock Band set for Wii. (Reid and Guy are Nintendo stockholders, is this some sort of conflict of interest here?)
I'm not sure I had ever heard Reid do the singing part of Rock Band. Maybe once. He is a drummer after all. Plays all on expert. Punk.
I am a singer, so I almost always sing, and occasionally drum, but it drives Reid nuts, justifiably. I can play the bass some, but I had never tried to play the guitar parts...as Salieri said...too many notes.
So there we were, in Di and Ike's special Rock Band Room, ready to go. Di has an excellent voice (she used to do some amazing scat, wonder if she still does that?). I started on bass, Reid on drums, Ike on Guitar.
After three songs, Di said, okay, rotate. Pause...look at Di....she says- rotate! Much like a volleyball game, we all did. Reid now on guitar, myself on drums, Ike singing, Di on bass. At this point I will just say that Di and Ike are equally, highly competent on all the instruments, which is so cool. They may not play expert on drums, but being good on everything is neat. (Actually, Reid is good on everything, but he is a teenager, so he doesn't count. I digress.)
I bumbled my way through easy on drums, ignoring Reid's wincing face. I had FUN. After three songs, Di says...rotate! This put me on guitar, which I have never touched, and Reid on microphone, same deal. Di said...oh come on! You'll do fine. Which we both did, surprisingly enough to ourselves. All the time you are trying this "new thing," Di is right there telling you how great you are doing.
Di says she is Ike's cheerleader at his political stuff. I've never been to any of Ike's political stuff. It was cool to see him on TV a lot being interviewed about the census. Cheerleader or no, I think what Di is is the ultimate coach. She calls the plays, and you follow her unquestioningly. (Rotate!) You try things for her that you've resisted before. You follow her advice when you've pshawed similar advice from others. You never want to have to come back to Di and tell her that you're still failing at the same crap you were failing at before, because you want her to be proud of you. Funny thing is, she is proud of you, no matter what.
I've learned a lot from Di over the years. There were probably ten years we fell out of touch since high school. Di is the one who taught me that people say "Bless You" in America when someone sneezes. Ha Ha, I know, but I grew up saying gesundheit (Dad), but when we moved to Georgia, I stopped because people made fun of me. I don't know why I remember that. Di and I spent a life-altering, bizarre at times summer at the Governor's Honors Program at Valdosta State College. I think it was a secretly funded gov't experiment...send all the weird gifted kids to some nowhere place for the summer and keep them all closely chained together at the height of adolescence. Oh My God, you have no idea. Which reminds me that Di has been listening to my drama for 30 years!!!
I just wanted to tell you about her. She and Ike are literally the perfect couple. Everyone should get the chance to know a perfect couple. It gives us all hope. I am not a sports fan. I don't get high school coaches. Their world is alien to me. But I understand the devotion they manage to inspire in their young charges. Because if Di told me I could swim the English Channel and to just get on with it, I'd probably dive right in.
Great friend!
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