family

man oh man. fathers.

in , , ,

have you ever heard an actor say, "if you can do anything else [besides act], you should"

well personally, i think that's total bullocks. the best actors should be able to do damn near anything and yet choose to act.

that being said, when you've gone to acting school for four years, it is very easy to feel completely unqualified in a real, working-world setting.

i was telling my father this. and so he sent me the following email.



A while back when we talked, you were upset because you did not feel that you were qualified to do anything. I have been thinking about your concern for some time now and composed the first of two lists. The first list is suitable for printing and putting in a pace where you will see it on a regular basis.



Enjoy, Love Dad.



Sunday, May 18, 2009

Meg

I thought about this for some time and decided you are well qualified to:

Be you
Write your own story
Smile
Sing
Have fun
Love
Be loved
Make a friend
Be a friend
Volunteer
Inspire
Dream
Make dreams come true
Touch a heart
Touch a world
Dance
Be seen
Observe
Process
Compete
Be strong
Be weak
Feel
Stand tall
Be independent
Be political
Support
Laugh out loud
Understand
Bring insight
Create
Be beautiful
Show compassion

Congratulations, you are qualified to do all of the above, or some, or none, your choice. You are also qualified to add to this list at will.

Love, Dad




Man oh man, am I lucky.

Thanks, Dad. You're so right. I am pretty darn qualified.





And pretty darn lucky to have you.

becoming an adult. or: gentleman, take your damn caps off {a hat manifesto}.

in , ,

My legs belie me. You see, they keep moving forward. And I am doing anything but. 

My parents passed through New York this weekend en route to other things. But we aligned our schedules just enough that we enjoyed a lovely family dinner on Saturday night and today (the lucky girl that I am) I got to spend all day with my mother. 

However, with the morning's downpour and an hour long session with Dr. Bob where the forecast of my face reflected the view out the window more than I'd care to admit, I felt anything but lucky. I wanted to crawl back into bed. 

No such luck.

Instead I met my mother on the corner of 68th and Broadway where I twisted my face into what I hoped would pass for a smile. 

Two blocks. That's how long it took for my mother to ask me why I'd been crying.

How to tell her that it's just been a rough patch. That the past two weeks have felt interminable. That getting out of bed has been a chore of great effort.

And so we stopped and stood under some crooked sidewalk scaffolding. And we both cried as the sky emptied out all around us. 

My mom said I could come home. If I need to. If I want to. For as long as I want. But I can't. Not this time. I did that once. But for now I have to grow up (or at least try). I have to make the decision to become an adult. To get out of bed in the morning, even when I don't want to and to brush my teeth. To floss. To shower and dress and walk instead of taking a cab. To smile at the checkout girl. To interact. To open. To bloom. Little things, every day. A few steps forward--and not just with my feet.

That's the thing about graduating from school that no one tells you: you have to grow up. Not immediately. It can be a slow, gradual process. But you have to make the decision. Because you're legs keep moving forward with or without you. You have to make the decision to keep up.

So men, when you enter a nice restaurant or a place of worship. When you go to dinner at a friend's house or attend a play at the theatre. Take...your hat...off. Full stop. No questions asked. This is one of those things that makes you an adult. And believe it or not, since fifteen year-old-boys are capable of it, so must you be. I do not hold this belief because I am from the South. I do not hold this belief because I am old-fashioned. I hold this belief because it's common courtesy--common decency. Frankly, I'm shocked that your parents never taught you as much. 

We all have battles we are fighting. I know this. So gentleman, I'll make you a deal. You take off your hats without a fight and I'll fight Ned as hard as I possibly can. 

For my parents. Because I certainly do love them.

in ,

I know February is the month of love and so I have this whole I love... thing going on with my post titles. But I no love like that phrase. I need some creativity--some juice--to pulse through these veins and inspire the titles.

But, that's beside the point.

Tonight my parents asked me what I wore to Erica's wedding and since I wore just a simple black dress so as to prominently feature Shill's utterly lovely necklace, I thought I'd post a picture so they could see what I was talking about.


I love that I wouldn't have spent today any other way. Not for anything in the world.

in ,



How did I spend it? With Popops and cousin Sean in Connecticut. 

And yes maybe we went to Constantine's. Which maybe my family begrudges me for liking because it means they all have to go when they're in town. And maybe if they complain they hear, "but Meghan likes it." And yes, maybe my full name is Meghan. And maybe I had the burger. Because let's be honest, I'm maybe always gonna be that girl that's gonna have the burger and get tipsy off of one glass of wine. And maybe Pops got some ice cream on the sleeve of his sweater. And maybe as he tried to eat (yes, eat) it off, it then fell on the front leaving another chocolate stain. And maybe this led to a Wal-Mart trip to get Spray and Wash. And then maybe we got home to find he already had some.

And maybe, just maybe, today was perfect.