scribble challenge #32
Looking back, I
Looking back, I will forever regret not instantly wrapping him in my arms and telling him how much I loved him. Instead, the instant we laid eyes on each other, I stood there, frozen, in complete shock!
He was the last person I had expected to see as the three of us arrived at Lax. The bone thin scary looking homeless man with his arms outstretched looked nothing like the handsome guy who left home 3 years prior to find fame and fortune in Hollywood.
He had been working in the movie, ABOUT LAST NIGHT, staring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins, shot almost exclusively in the Chicago area. After the local crew wrapped, the main stars were headed to California to film some additional pick up shots. Only a select few of the minor characters were invited along. He was among the lucky ones and as a result, awarded his ticket to stardom, the elusive sag card.
As my husband and I were standing in stunned silence the two of us were mentally at war with ourselves trying to decide what to do!
Meanwhile our 7 year old instantly embraced him, and happily offered a hug that seemed to last forever. It was obvious that her Uncle did not want to let go as she showered him with unconditional love and affection. The poor guy probably hadn’t had a dose of that nice warm feeling that she so generously lavished upon him, in a very long time.
His young niece, who could not believe our good luck, gave him exactly what he needed and was genuinely excited he met us at the gate. It was as if she simply did not notice his shabby clothes and drastic weight loss or the tears in his big brown eyes. It was that famous everpresent smile that endeared him to everyone that she gravitated toward.
Our young daughter was simply overjoyed as she repeating over and over, “I can’t believe you’re here, wow, mom, can you believe it, this is so cool, now he can show us all around! Hey dad, is he going to stay with us? Oh, he just has to stay with us, right mom? He’ll drive us all over and introduce us to movie stars, hey, we won’t even have to rent a car!”
As she bubbled over with enthusiasm, my husband and I, on the other hand, looked at each other like we had just seen a ghost.
The only thing on both our minds was, “What in the world were we going to do with him? We certainly couldn’t take him with us, after all, we were staying with friends!” Heavens, we did not want him to know where they lived. No telling what he would do?
The questions, unasked and unanswered were bombarding us like a machine gun. This stranger offering us a piece of gum had lost an incredible amount of weight. Could he have contracted aids, how did he know we were here? What happened to his beautiful head of jet black hair?
None of that matters now, all these years later. Looking back on that tiny moment in time, embedding in my memory forever, I am continuously tortured by my horrible demeanor. I am ashamed for being ashamed of my own brother. I will regret my less than warm greeting for the rest of my life. If only....
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