I graduated from high school in 1988.
I’ll pause to let you do the math.
Cross off the 2, carry the 1…
I look good for my age, right?
So anyway. The 1980s… John Hughes… Molly Ringwald… the Brat Pack… Psychodelic Furs… Summer evenings gathering at various friends’ homes… VHS video tapes of movies we watched so many times, we recited the dialogue while we watched them again. Groups of teenagers reciting monologues together, even without the movie playing.
One of our favorite monologues came courtesy of Judd Nelson (Bender, for those of you who don’t know already,) with a small assist from Anthony Michael Hall as Brian. The opening line begins with Bender, name…:
“PB and J with the crusts cut off. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?”
Brian: “Uh, no, Mr. Johnson.”
Bender: “My impression… of life… at Big Bri’s house…”
I can still recite it a couple of years later, just ask my kids.
Now, instead of being the teen in legwarmers and big hair, I’m the voiceless mom in the driver seat of the minivan. How did I get so old?
Nothing seems more surreal than driving my, gulp, teenage son to school early in the morning.
Last Friday morning, the rain poured all through the night before. The cool humidity sat heavy in the air and smelled fresh. When I pulled out of the garage to take my son to school, the sidewalks and roads glistened from the residual water and puddles. The scene felt familiar – slightly sunny, slightly overcast.
I left the house early because I hate the traffic jam in the school parking lot. Even with school in session, only a few cars fill the drop-off lane when we arrive that early. One by one we pulled in with our windows up. I did not hear the conversations inside the cars. I wondered what they sound like.
Did that mom laugh with her child?
Did a dad lecture his son?
Did that parent list the mundane things they had on their schedule after school?
Was another parent interrogating her child?
Did they sit in silence all the way to school?
My son got out of the car. I told him I love him and to have a good day. He mumbled back he loves me, too.
I pulled out of the parking lot. You know what song played in my head, don’t you?
Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t, Don’t you…
It's About the Process 