Beneath the Wraps

Roland often tells this joke about Satan entering a congregation of worshipers.   Frightened with his presence, the parishioners begin to flee the church except for one man.   Satan sits next to him on the pew and after trying a few more scare tactics finally says to the man, “Why is it that you are not frightened of me.” The man just looks at him and shakes his head and says, “Nothing you can do will frighten me.   After all, I’ve been married to your sister for the last twenty years” Roland’s marriage to his last wife did not make it to twenty years however.   But I think that is who he thinks about when he tells the joke.                         When I saw the advertisements for Disney’s Maleficent, I thought to myself:   “How quaint.   A movie about Roland’s ex-wife”       ...

         “Stepmom” was released in theatres December 1998.   The movie is put out by Columbia Pictures and stars Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon.    I enjoyed the movie the first time I watched it. I hadn’t considered being able to identify with any of the characters personally, though I did know of actual people that were real life characters.   I thought Jena Malone’s character was a brat.   Great actress.   I had seen her in a Hallmark production only two years earlier.   Ellen Foster and Anna Harrison – though played by the same actress – were two entire different people.   I did not even realize it was the same actress until only moments ago.          Julia Roberts plays Isabel Kelly – the current love of Luke Harrison (played by Ed Harris) who’d been married to Jackie (played by Susan Sarandon) – and finds herself in a situatio...

          I have two friends who are currently going through the divorce process.  One couple, though hurt, remains civil.  Their plan is to go through mediation.  The other . . . well, she sounds like she has turned into the Maleficent that Roland was married to for seven years.           I’ve actually known him a lot longer – and have had conversations with her – but not day to day.  She seemed nice.  Perhaps a bit naïve when the two of them were married – someone a chauvinist would marry.  Someone who could be controlled.           Of course I don’t know all the insides and outsides of their marriage.  I know that she posted to facebook that they were getting a divorce.  I think posting anything to facebook is opening a can of worms.  Her family (or friends) didn’t see it that way when the comme...

I have a friend named Heather (actual name) who has this blog  in which she will often ask questions at the end of her posts.   Three of my answers have been so weighed with detail that I answered by email rather than leave a comment on the post, as some of my comments turn out to be larger than the post itself.   The first question I remember actually sending an email for was when she asked, “What are your triggers?”   At first I couldn’t think of one.   It was ten days before the Christmas tree skirt came out.   There was my trigger.   A horrible memory that I should just get rid of. And yet it’s a busy time of year and replacing the tree skirt is never a priority – and it’s probably petty of me to feel the need to replace it anyway. Before you can understand the trigger itself, you’ll need some background.           All too soon after the boys’ mother passed, Roland decided to marry S...