Written for Only Murders In My Mind
Weekly Writing Prompt #79 and the
photo prompt shown below.
Here’s where the image took me.
Tag: Mothers & Sons
Desperate Times
Written for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday 10.31.24.
We’re offered incredibly creative images to inspire
and get our writing juices flowing. This is my story.
Rite Of Passage
Our gracious host Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers
is encouraging us to get creative in 100 words or less
using this photo as our inspiration. This is my story.
In the 7th grade, ballroom dance class was a rite of passage – a Friday night event that lasted six months, culminating in a semiformal dinner-dance. The boys wore ties and jackets, the girls in party dresses and white gloves. It was not mandatory but if you didn’t sign up, you were snubbed. It was the highlight of the year …. not for the 12-year-old students but rather for their moms.
My son balked but signed up.
“You’ll never regret knowing how to dance”, I told him.
Since then, I’ve seen him dance on two occasions – his wedding and his brother’s.
NAR©2024
100 Words
This is “Ballroom Dancing” by Paul McCartney
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.
Those Were The Days
Time once again for
The Unicorn Challenge.
Jenne has provided the photo;
this is my 250-word response.
“Mother! What do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing, Morris? I’m going to go sing with that band.”
“You can’t do that. You’re almost 73 years old!” her son replied. He was becoming impatient.
“What the hell does my age have to do with anything? Tony Bennett, Tina Turner, David Crosby were all in their 80s and still going strong.”
“Mother, you’re not exactly in the same league as Tina Turner!”
“Thank you for pointing that out to me and the family, Morris. You’ve turned into a self-righteous little prig …. certainly not how I raised you.”
“Well, one of us had to grow up, Mother. You’re not going to sing with that band. I won’t allow it. This isn’t Woodstock!”
“Grammy? What’s Dad talking about? You were at Woodstock?” Dina asked her grandmother in disbelief.
“As a matter of fact, I was! You know, I wasn’t always your grandmother! I lived a whole other life before your father was born.”
“Grammy, why am I just hearing about this now? I’m 22 years old and never knew this! How is that possible? Dad, how come you never said anything?”
“You’re father’s embarrassed by me, Dina. I was always a very free spirit; I met a lot of incredible people before and after Woodstock.”
“Grammy, were you a groupie?” Dina asked conspiratorially.
“Oh, Dina! Lets just say I had great fun.”
“Mother, this conversation ends now!”
“Oh, shut up, Morrison!”
“Morrison?” Dina whispered knowingly, eyes wide.
NAR©2024
250 Words
This is Mary Hopkin, “Those Were The Days”
The Doors with “Alabama Song” (Whisky Bar)
This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR © 2017-present.
RSVP
“Why don’t you invite Tony Bennett to the wedding?”
That’s something you might expect to hear Barbra Streisand or Billy Joel say – certainly not me! But I did make that suggestion and here’s how it all came about.
It was probably around 2004 when my son, Bill, first met Tony Bennett. I say “first” because Bill had the pleasure of working with Tony numerous times … at the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center, the Grammy Awards and other gigs.
You see, Bill’s been a teleprompter for a lot of years; he’s had the great opportunity of working with celebrities ranging from Paul McCartney to Big Bird. His jobs are as varied as crayons in a jumbo Crayola box and just as colorful. I’m not going to bore you with names but the list is impressive. That’s how Bill met Tony.
These gigs – many of which are live – don’t happen in just one take. The crew and the performers (or “talent”, as they’re known in the business) can wind up spending a great deal of time on the set. Some talent remain aloof; others, like Tony Bennett, are the type to pull up a chair in the lounge and eat lunch with the crew.
Now I don’t want to brag but I raised a good son. Bill is a hard worker, agreeable, unassuming, pleasant, attractive and funny. Tony and Bill enjoyed working with each other very much – so much so that when Tony was asked to perform at the tree lighting again the following year, he requesting my son by name.
During down time at a rehearsal in 2007, Bill was talking about his upcoming wedding and Tony happened to be within earshot. He came over to congratulate Bill and they talked about “things” for a while. Tony wished Bill “a happy life”, shook his hand and that was that – until I found out about it that night. And I said what any mom would say:
“Why don’t you invite Tony Bennett to the wedding? He just might say ‘yes’.”
I gave Bill an invitation for him to give Tony the next day. He took it and placed it in his backpack. Well, let’s just say my son is a bit more circumspect than me; he opted not to impose on Tony and did not extend the invitation. I was a bit bummed out but it was Bill’s decision to make, not mine.
Still … can you just imagine what a gas it would have been if Tony Bennett had come to my son’s wedding?
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