Look closely at the pancake, do you see it? It’s not the Virgin Mary. It’s an angry cartoon man face, sent to me by my friend Ruth. I’ve known Ruth almost as long as I’ve known just about anybody. My parents lived with the fear that Ruth would burn our house down. She never did though. She just liked playing with fire. In high school, I would pick her up in the morning and give her rides to school. We giggled most of the time, about pretty much anything. She would tell me about her insane dreams, like how Norm from Cheers got her pregnant. Or she’d change the words to high school dance themes. Have You Ever Been in Love became Have You Ever Been a Slug.
Since we were both in concert choir, we were also in the school musicals as well. Junior year it was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Of course. I swear every person in Utah has seen that show at least 15 times. We had to have golden sneakers to wear with our white pants and brightly colored t-shirts. I’m not sure why, because all of this was hidden by a white choir robe that was only taken off at the very end during the Joseph Megamix. Spray painting our sneakers gold wasn’t enough. We also spray painted my slippers gold. Because every boy needs some golden slippers to kick around the house in.
I told Ruth of my proclivity for men about a year ago. She didn’t assume anything when finding out. She didn’t assume I’d stay in the church or out of the church or that I’d marry a woman or try pursuing a relationship with a man and didn’t try to nudge me in any direction. She just wanted to know that I was OK and happy and she wanted me to know that she loved me. That’s when it feels nice to come out and shed the bland white choir robe to reveal the white pants, brightly colored t-shirt and the golden sneakers that lie beneath.
its nice to have someone like that in your life :)
ReplyDeleteI teared up a little reading this. I love remembering Ruth telling me when she loudly whispered to you "Hey Jon, can I borrow your gold shoes??", and remembering you two giggle (and you choke on) about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. And some story about you kicking a ridiculously heavy shoe off up in the air? When I think of high school Ruth, I think of high school Jon; it just makes me happy. She's a good example of so many things, I lucked out with her as a sis. She/I also lucked out with knowing Jon too. :)
ReplyDeleteps-I thought the face was an alien...oops.
I really teared up reading this! Love you to bits and bits and I miss laughing with you on a daily basis. You really got me through high school and helped me to start to find myself. I also loved laughing about just a few of the memories. Here are a few more for you:
ReplyDelete-Dry cleaning choir robes (creaned and pressed)
-Laughing as the B2000 skidded into a dumpster
-Your cabin, the zipline and the all true quotable quote from you: "Ruth, you look like hell"
And yes, Liz is right you choked on everything. I also confess that I thought it fun to try to make you laugh while you were eating. My favorite? Powdered donuts. I will cherish the white plume of sugar coming our of your mouth as you laughed, then coughed, then choked. I do find it amazing that I never once had the opportunity to try out the Heimlich maneuver on you. Thanks for your blog and your thoughts, mentally I am usually not up to it, but I like that it makes me think and stretches me a bit.
P.S. I purposely look for pictures that are worthy of your blog. :)
Thanks for always being there for me, Jon.
Haha, do you remember how much it cost to get those robes cleaned? When we questioned the guy he said it was because of all the pleats. Damn choir robes. That weekend at the cabin was the source of all sorts of memories. Like you using the insides of the microwave popcorn bags from the night before to grease the frying pan to make pancakes.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember it was SIXTEEN DOLLARS to get each one cleaned. I remember it vividly as I equated it to one shift at Blimpies to cover the 'pleated sleeves, pleated skirt' of the robe.
ReplyDeleteAnd let it be known that my MacGyverish pancakes was our only option for breakfast (I guess we didn't think far enough ahead to plan for breakfast?).
P.S. You were the only one who said thank you, even though they tasted a little salty from the butter spread.
you guys are both the best--i giggle just thinking about you two. and jon, you forgot to mention that for joseph we had to either wear black wigs or dye our hair black. i dyed kevin's with rachel and mel and i remember that after it was all blown out, he looked exactly like elvis. here's hoping he never goes gray...
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxoxo