Cynthia is the shortest member of her family. Her father is a CPA and her mother owns an art gallery that features her own sculpture along with the work of other artists. Cynthia is the older of two children. George, her brother, is two years younger, and really got on big sis’s nerves as they were growing up.
The Powell family lives in Washington, D.C., where Cynthia and George go to public schools. The teachers think of the two of them as a matched set. Though neither is at the top of her/his class, each is a good strong student -- reliable, hard worker, good citizen.
Cynthia gets a scholarship to George Washington University, and majors in political science. At college she meets the charismatic, gonna-set-the-world-on-fire political scientist James Lowell Weber. After they graduate, they get married. Both are hired to work for a polling organization that is a front for right-wing fundamentalists. It doesn’t take Cynthia long to figure out that the fundies hired James and her because they “look” right for a public image (as Blacks) and are expected to have the right ideology as graduates of George Washington (i.e. be good conservatives). Finally, Cynthia discovers that James has no moral compass. He refuses to leave the organization because it looks good on his resumé, and also because he thinks it wouldn’t be “smart politics” on his part.
Cynthia leaves the organization and works at her mother’s art gallery.
James’ work hours expand more and more, until he is hardly ever home when Cynthia is. As much for protection as company during her morning run, Cynthia gets a chocolate Standard Poodle. She names him Gideon. At the running park, Cynthia overhears a conversation that can only be about her husband James, which solidifies her suspicions about his excessive hours away from home.
(continued)
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A. Michael part 6: “A” is for Academic
The science teacher, Miss Wilson, and A. Michael’s mother Reecca become friends through church, and they talk about A. Michael. Reecca is aware of her son’s inability to make the human connections. Miss Wilson believes A. Michael needs to learn humanity from his animals. She encourages the study of animals that undergo metamorphosis, animals that nurture, animals that live in interdependent communities. Miss Wilson stretches A. Michael’s imagination and his innate scientific talents and, through the animals, the scientific method. His mother complements these same lessons from the human side.
A. Michael is the valedictorian of his high school class. He speaks on the topic of starting at the top. By the end of his four-minute speech during graduation ceremonies, he manages to alienate everyone in the audience. This is the moment when Reecca and Aaron realize there is something not quite normal about their son.
Later, when A. Michael wants to enter vet school, Miss Wilson is the only teacher who will write a letter of recommendation. Miss Wilson marries the high school English teacher, Mr. Simonton. To her husband’s surprise, she remains a mentor and a friend to A. Michael all through his years in college, vet school, and beyond.
(continued)
A. Michael is the valedictorian of his high school class. He speaks on the topic of starting at the top. By the end of his four-minute speech during graduation ceremonies, he manages to alienate everyone in the audience. This is the moment when Reecca and Aaron realize there is something not quite normal about their son.
Later, when A. Michael wants to enter vet school, Miss Wilson is the only teacher who will write a letter of recommendation. Miss Wilson marries the high school English teacher, Mr. Simonton. To her husband’s surprise, she remains a mentor and a friend to A. Michael all through his years in college, vet school, and beyond.
(continued)
Monday, April 12, 2010
A. Michael part 5: “A” is for Accomplished
By the seventh grade, A. Michael is the pet of the science teacher and just a another student to the English teacher. Although his papers are technically correct, the topics he chooses bore her to tears. Michael never participates in discussions in class. The only “discussions” he enters are one-on-one conversations with the science teacher, and even then A. Michael is condescending. His worst assignment is to write a sonnet. He writes it, “Paean to Pythagoras,” as a strictly mathematical construct. It is correct, but reads like an equation--heartless, soulless. He gets an A. His dad loves it and posts it at work. A. Michael continues to learn to excel and not to connect.
In high school, he begins to collect the animals that make up his menagerie. He acquires them as his fascination with his biology teacher, Miss Wilson, begins to intensify. She knows more about things that interest him than anyone else he has ever met. When she talks about characteristics that are best exemplified in X animal, A. Michael acquires X animal to see for himself. Miss Wilson understands A. Michael in ways that his parents cannot, his other teachers will not, and he does not.
When Uncle Father (Stuart) visits and tries to engage A. Michael in theological discussions, he finds his nephew passionless and uninvolved. Stuart’s own passion is not even acknowledged. A. Michael does not understand how religion can be anything but a task one does because one must.
In high school, A. Michael belongs to the National Honor Society, Chemistry Club, Physics Club, Math Club, and Chess Club. He is never elected to any office in any club. A. Michael does not date in high school, but Aaron and Reecca don’t worry about that because they recognize their son is a late-bloomer.
(continued)
In high school, he begins to collect the animals that make up his menagerie. He acquires them as his fascination with his biology teacher, Miss Wilson, begins to intensify. She knows more about things that interest him than anyone else he has ever met. When she talks about characteristics that are best exemplified in X animal, A. Michael acquires X animal to see for himself. Miss Wilson understands A. Michael in ways that his parents cannot, his other teachers will not, and he does not.
When Uncle Father (Stuart) visits and tries to engage A. Michael in theological discussions, he finds his nephew passionless and uninvolved. Stuart’s own passion is not even acknowledged. A. Michael does not understand how religion can be anything but a task one does because one must.
In high school, A. Michael belongs to the National Honor Society, Chemistry Club, Physics Club, Math Club, and Chess Club. He is never elected to any office in any club. A. Michael does not date in high school, but Aaron and Reecca don’t worry about that because they recognize their son is a late-bloomer.
(continued)
Friday, April 9, 2010
A. Michael, part 4: "A" is for Alone
A. Michael is utterly, totally, completely, and irredeemably in love with all members of the animal kingdom . . . except humans. His awe for the perfectly evolved body of a slug is matched only by his disdain for a human with a backache. Even a slug knows better than to lift more than his musculature safely allows.
A. Michael was never popular in school. When he couldn’t intellectualize away his yearning for friendship with other humans, i.e., playmates, he turned to other animals for his emotional needs. Because his parents indulged him, he was able to keep a fantastic menagerie in his own room. He built elaborate homes for his various species, often inventing innovative little ecosystems so he could share his space with exotics.
To his delight, A. Michael discovers that teachers leave him alone and let him read in a corner as they teach the basics of phonics. He finishes his work so quickly that he “earns” the right to go off by himself. He does not have to interact with the other kids or the teacher. He is rewarded for excelling and thus encouraged to remain isolated. A. Michael always chooses to be alone when given the opportunity. He always chooses reading about science and non-fiction. He has no interest in storybooks, dramas, mysteries. He wants facts. He hates biographies, and when his third grade book report on Pasteur dwells more on the process of scientific discovery than the man, his teacher gives him an A+ and doesn’t make note of the oddity.
A. Michael participates in all the religious schooling and rituals in much the same way as he does English assignments. He does them without emotional involvement. He is an altar boy because it is expected and because doing it pleases his parents. When his parents are pleased, A. Michael is allowed to continue being alone. In catechism class, he does not question the teaching; he sees them as assignments in memorization.
(continued)
A. Michael was never popular in school. When he couldn’t intellectualize away his yearning for friendship with other humans, i.e., playmates, he turned to other animals for his emotional needs. Because his parents indulged him, he was able to keep a fantastic menagerie in his own room. He built elaborate homes for his various species, often inventing innovative little ecosystems so he could share his space with exotics.
To his delight, A. Michael discovers that teachers leave him alone and let him read in a corner as they teach the basics of phonics. He finishes his work so quickly that he “earns” the right to go off by himself. He does not have to interact with the other kids or the teacher. He is rewarded for excelling and thus encouraged to remain isolated. A. Michael always chooses to be alone when given the opportunity. He always chooses reading about science and non-fiction. He has no interest in storybooks, dramas, mysteries. He wants facts. He hates biographies, and when his third grade book report on Pasteur dwells more on the process of scientific discovery than the man, his teacher gives him an A+ and doesn’t make note of the oddity.
A. Michael participates in all the religious schooling and rituals in much the same way as he does English assignments. He does them without emotional involvement. He is an altar boy because it is expected and because doing it pleases his parents. When his parents are pleased, A. Michael is allowed to continue being alone. In catechism class, he does not question the teaching; he sees them as assignments in memorization.
(continued)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A. Michael, part 3: "A" is for Arrogant
Reecca, understanding the pain and private humiliation that Aaron’s sterility causes him, implies to all family members that she is the member of their team who is incapable of producing more children. The family, even though they know of Aaron’s bout with mumps, is grateful for the opportunity to believe Reecca’s fiction. A. Michael becomes, more than ever, their reason for being, their proudest accomplishment, their total focus.
A. Michael’s innate aloofness is magnified by his parents’ unquestioning adoration. He doesn’t have to do anything to please them, so he never has to learn any coping devices that would enable him to know how to please others, or even guess that such actions might be helpful to his own cause, if not anyone else’s.
At age five, A. Michael changes his name for Stuart from Uncle Stuart to “Uncle Father.” It drives Stuart mad. That’s why A. Michael does it.
Each of A. Michael’s parents hail from large families, and it grieves them so much to be restricted to only one child that they pour into little A. Michael too much attention, too much love, too many expectations, and way, way too much pride. What “takes” the most are the attention, expectations and pride. A. Michael is one arrogant guy. It’s so ingrained in him that it may even have been congenital. Hardwired, as it were. Arrogance deeper than bone.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the situation, A. Michael does have some abilities that are highly exceptional. First of all, he is a scientific genius. The paths of deductive logic; the intricate inter-relationships of structures, energies, components and properties; the unlikely similarities and shocking differences; the blatantly obvious and the unfathomably mysterious—all the forms and facets of life paint a tapestry in A. Michael’s brain that is as clear and decipherable to him as a photograph labeled, “Life: You Are Here.” His ability to recognize unlikely similarities gives him remarkable diagnostic skills. His near-photographic memory enables him to function as a walking encyclopedia of pharmacopoeia.
Apr. 9
A Michael part 4: “A” is for Alone
A. Michael is utterly, totally, completely, and irredeemably in love with all members of the animal kingdom . . . except humans. His awe for the perfectly evolved body of a slug is matched only by his disdain for a human with a backache. Even a slug knows better than to lift more than his musculature safely allows.
A. Michael was never popular in school. When he couldn’t intellectualize away his yearning for friendship with other humans, i.e., playmates, he turned to other animals for his emotional needs. Because his parents indulged him, he was able to keep a fantastic menagerie in his own room. He built elaborate homes for his various species, often inventing innovative little ecosystems so he could share his space with exotics.
To his delight, A. Michael discovers that teachers leave him alone and let him read in a corner as they teach the basics of phonics. He finishes his work so quickly that he “earns” the right to go off by himself. He does not have to interact with the other kids or the teacher. He is rewarded for excelling and thus encouraged to remain isolated. A. Michael always chooses to be alone when given the opportunity. He always chooses reading about science and non-fiction. He has no interest in storybooks, dramas, mysteries. He wants facts. He hates biographies, and when his third grade book report on Pasteur dwells more on the process of scientific discovery than the man, his teacher gives him an A+ and doesn’t make note of the oddity.
A. Michael participates in all the religious schooling and rituals in much the same way as he does English assignments. He does them without emotional involvement. He is an altar boy because it is expected and because doing it pleases his parents. When his parents are pleased, A. Michael is allowed to continue being alone. In catechism class, he does not question the teaching; he sees them as assignments in memorization.
(continued)
A. Michael’s innate aloofness is magnified by his parents’ unquestioning adoration. He doesn’t have to do anything to please them, so he never has to learn any coping devices that would enable him to know how to please others, or even guess that such actions might be helpful to his own cause, if not anyone else’s.
At age five, A. Michael changes his name for Stuart from Uncle Stuart to “Uncle Father.” It drives Stuart mad. That’s why A. Michael does it.
Each of A. Michael’s parents hail from large families, and it grieves them so much to be restricted to only one child that they pour into little A. Michael too much attention, too much love, too many expectations, and way, way too much pride. What “takes” the most are the attention, expectations and pride. A. Michael is one arrogant guy. It’s so ingrained in him that it may even have been congenital. Hardwired, as it were. Arrogance deeper than bone.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the situation, A. Michael does have some abilities that are highly exceptional. First of all, he is a scientific genius. The paths of deductive logic; the intricate inter-relationships of structures, energies, components and properties; the unlikely similarities and shocking differences; the blatantly obvious and the unfathomably mysterious—all the forms and facets of life paint a tapestry in A. Michael’s brain that is as clear and decipherable to him as a photograph labeled, “Life: You Are Here.” His ability to recognize unlikely similarities gives him remarkable diagnostic skills. His near-photographic memory enables him to function as a walking encyclopedia of pharmacopoeia.
Apr. 9
A Michael part 4: “A” is for Alone
A. Michael is utterly, totally, completely, and irredeemably in love with all members of the animal kingdom . . . except humans. His awe for the perfectly evolved body of a slug is matched only by his disdain for a human with a backache. Even a slug knows better than to lift more than his musculature safely allows.
A. Michael was never popular in school. When he couldn’t intellectualize away his yearning for friendship with other humans, i.e., playmates, he turned to other animals for his emotional needs. Because his parents indulged him, he was able to keep a fantastic menagerie in his own room. He built elaborate homes for his various species, often inventing innovative little ecosystems so he could share his space with exotics.
To his delight, A. Michael discovers that teachers leave him alone and let him read in a corner as they teach the basics of phonics. He finishes his work so quickly that he “earns” the right to go off by himself. He does not have to interact with the other kids or the teacher. He is rewarded for excelling and thus encouraged to remain isolated. A. Michael always chooses to be alone when given the opportunity. He always chooses reading about science and non-fiction. He has no interest in storybooks, dramas, mysteries. He wants facts. He hates biographies, and when his third grade book report on Pasteur dwells more on the process of scientific discovery than the man, his teacher gives him an A+ and doesn’t make note of the oddity.
A. Michael participates in all the religious schooling and rituals in much the same way as he does English assignments. He does them without emotional involvement. He is an altar boy because it is expected and because doing it pleases his parents. When his parents are pleased, A. Michael is allowed to continue being alone. In catechism class, he does not question the teaching; he sees them as assignments in memorization.
(continued)
Monday, April 5, 2010
A. Michael, part 2: Only Child
Reeca’s brother Stuart MacGregor comes to visit when A. Michael is three months old to perform the baptism. All the hordes of relatives are there to celebrate. When Father Stuart takes his nephew A. Michael Kendrick in his arms to perform the baptism, A. Michael promptly pees on himself, his beautiful white lace baptismal gown, and Father Stuart’s beautiful black velvet priest’s stole. Stuart still laughs over the ingratitude of A. Michael’s first ceremonial act.
Reecca stays home to care for A. Michael and Aaron. Aaron posts photographs of A. Michael all over his office and on his office door, in case someone is passing by and hasn’t seen the latest and greatest.
During A. Michael’s first spring, a mumps epidemic sweeps the campus, felling the unlucky college students who hadn’t suffered this disease at the appropriate time of their lives. And Aaron.
As childhood diseases so often do, mumps hits the grownup Aaron much more seriously than any child. He is ravaged by fever and, sure enough, the infection moves to his testicles. Aaron is rushed to the hospital, where he is isolated and packed from the waist down in ice. Aaron survives the mumps, but his fertility does not.
After two years of trying in vain to conceive another child, Aaron and Reecca agree to go to Michigan’s teaching hospital to undergo fertility tests in the then-new program. The results are conclusive and irreversible: Aaron is sterile.
(continued)
Reecca stays home to care for A. Michael and Aaron. Aaron posts photographs of A. Michael all over his office and on his office door, in case someone is passing by and hasn’t seen the latest and greatest.
During A. Michael’s first spring, a mumps epidemic sweeps the campus, felling the unlucky college students who hadn’t suffered this disease at the appropriate time of their lives. And Aaron.
As childhood diseases so often do, mumps hits the grownup Aaron much more seriously than any child. He is ravaged by fever and, sure enough, the infection moves to his testicles. Aaron is rushed to the hospital, where he is isolated and packed from the waist down in ice. Aaron survives the mumps, but his fertility does not.
After two years of trying in vain to conceive another child, Aaron and Reecca agree to go to Michigan’s teaching hospital to undergo fertility tests in the then-new program. The results are conclusive and irreversible: Aaron is sterile.
(continued)
Friday, April 2, 2010
A. Michael Kendrick part 1
A. Michael Kendrick’s father, Aaron Kendrick, is from Michigan. His own mother, father, brothers and sisters all still live in or near Lansing, Michigan. Aaron attended the University of Michigan, majoring in math.
A. Michael’s mother, Reecca MacGregor, graduated from high school in Florida, but had schemed, with her cousins on her father’s side, for two years to be able to return to Michigan. She lived with her aunt and uncle so she could pay tuition as an in-state student at the University of Michigan. She majored in nursing.
Reecca’s cousins are girl cousins. One of them has a crush on this guy in her chemistry class. She talks Reecca into going on a double date with her and the cute guy and a friend of the cute guy’s. The cousin and the friend wind up having a lot more in common, and Reecca and ‘cute guy’ hit it off. ‘Cute guy’ turns out to be Aaron Kendrick. Reecca and Aaron begin dating and soon are an “item.” They marry shortly after graduation. Reeca’s brother The Right Rev. Stuart MacGregor comes to Michigan to perform the wedding mass. Reeca's and Stuart’s Aunt Sister attends the wedding.
Aaron gets a job with the University. Reecca gets a job with the county clinic. Four months after the wedding, Reecca gets pregnant. She continues to work through the pregnancy. The two of them are mighty excited. This is the happy beginning of the big family that they both want. Reecca works at the clinic through the seventh month of her pregnancy. The last two months she and Aaron spend being excited and preparing the nursery for the baby.
The baby, A. Michael Kendrick, is born with one of the largest attendants of grandparents, aunts and uncles that the Lansing hospital has ever had in the waiting room on the maternity floor. It was an easy birth; everything went smoothly and according to expectations.
Proud new parents Reecca and Aaron come home from the hospital to truckloads of flowers and cards. And casseroles. All is well in paradise. Reecca’s cousins are thrilled that Reecca and her family are going to stay in Michigan.
(continued)
A. Michael’s mother, Reecca MacGregor, graduated from high school in Florida, but had schemed, with her cousins on her father’s side, for two years to be able to return to Michigan. She lived with her aunt and uncle so she could pay tuition as an in-state student at the University of Michigan. She majored in nursing.
Reecca’s cousins are girl cousins. One of them has a crush on this guy in her chemistry class. She talks Reecca into going on a double date with her and the cute guy and a friend of the cute guy’s. The cousin and the friend wind up having a lot more in common, and Reecca and ‘cute guy’ hit it off. ‘Cute guy’ turns out to be Aaron Kendrick. Reecca and Aaron begin dating and soon are an “item.” They marry shortly after graduation. Reeca’s brother The Right Rev. Stuart MacGregor comes to Michigan to perform the wedding mass. Reeca's and Stuart’s Aunt Sister attends the wedding.
Aaron gets a job with the University. Reecca gets a job with the county clinic. Four months after the wedding, Reecca gets pregnant. She continues to work through the pregnancy. The two of them are mighty excited. This is the happy beginning of the big family that they both want. Reecca works at the clinic through the seventh month of her pregnancy. The last two months she and Aaron spend being excited and preparing the nursery for the baby.
The baby, A. Michael Kendrick, is born with one of the largest attendants of grandparents, aunts and uncles that the Lansing hospital has ever had in the waiting room on the maternity floor. It was an easy birth; everything went smoothly and according to expectations.
Proud new parents Reecca and Aaron come home from the hospital to truckloads of flowers and cards. And casseroles. All is well in paradise. Reecca’s cousins are thrilled that Reecca and her family are going to stay in Michigan.
(continued)
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