BC and I just returned from a fabulous dinner with my siblings. We celebrated Mark’s wife’s mom’s birthday–Joe (Joe Mamma). Diane finally revealed the mystery behind why Mark and I were never asked to be altar boys. Evidently she and Chino Gonzales were caught in the rectory eating hosts, a little too eager before their first communions for a taste of the body of Christ. This led to a discussion of the legitimacy of agnostics, with June saying that she didn’t believe in agnostics, that after a certain number of years a decision was essential. “You have to decide,” she said. I guess she doesn’t believe in bisexuality either. I love the idea of not believing in agnostics. This somehow led to a conversation about how many tree houses Mark and I built (4), which of course led to the many activities associated with our tree houses. My dad walked into the woods one day and came upon Mark being given a shotgun (marijuana smoke blown into his mouth) by Kenny, Robin’s boyfriend. Dad quickly turned away after Mark waved “Hey Dad” with held breath, and then exhaled a big cloud of smoke in Dad’s direction. Mark said that Kenny started laughing hysterically, and then Mark ran after Dad screaming, “Dad, it’s not what you think, I’m not gay, I’m just doing drugs!” We also used to drink a lot of beer at the tree house, which Dad also asked about. “What are all those beer cans doing around the tree house?” Mark said that they were part of our beer can collection. “500 Budweiser cans?” Mom and Dad wanted so badly to believe that our straight A’s were accompanied by a similar sense of teen responsibility, and believed anything that we told them. Mark was better than I at making up things. I think he even told Dad that we were collecting beer cans for a proposed shiny path to the tree house. I have no idea what they thought when at 16 I brought my 26-year old boyfriend home for a “sleepover.”
I love my siblings. I’m number 6 of 7, and can’t imagine them not living forever.