Hello, again; as I write this, it's a drizzly, muggy afternoon. What we need is a good, old-fashioned thunderstorm to clear the air. According to Dee, who's e-mailing for two now that Mike is writing things that cohere logically, it's especially needed in Milborough. (Playing musical diagnoses with Robin has, of course, put her on edge; I just wish she wouldn't sell herself short because of whatever condition that he turns out to have. Whatever he does turn out to have, she can get through it because she doesn't have to face it alone.) That's, of course, because of a huge problem: John and Elly Patterson. From what I've seen and been told, Mike's declaration that she presented a danger to herself and others is an understatement. She's a mess, to be quite honest; so far this month, she's engaged in ranting about trips to Mexico, standing on the sidewalk bellowing at long-dead pets, breaking into people's houses at night to use their commodes and not flush, forgetting how old Mike and Liz are supposed to be, accusing April of predatory designs on her oaf husband and harassing passers-by with complaints about fads that disappeared from the stores decades ago. Mike's crack about how the Richards gave Claire all the answers she wanted tells me that her unwanted encounter with Elly and John gave her some nasty things to think about. John Patterson, of course, is also deteriorating before our eyes; he's at the point now where you'd not only lock up your daughters when he's on the prowl, you'd also have to bring your pets in.
This, of course, is why Iris Richards is stuck with a difficult choice to make in the near future; from what I understand, she, Phil and her children are trying to work out who she lives with when Jim passes on. Owing to Mike's plans to move to Colorado next year, April living on campus and Liz having disqualified herself because of her own domestic turmoil, it's sadly obvious that she couldn't live with Elly's kids even if she wanted to. It's as obvious as her having to make that choice by the end of the month.
To get a bit off-topic, you'll notice that I mentioned that Elizabeth had got herself into a royal mess; you see, she owned up to the high probability that her pilot ex-boyfriend is the real father of her son. I'd sympathize but, well, she did something very stupid for a questionable reason. I'm not just talking about what she did to Anthony and her son, I'm also talking about her not having a real back-up plan. As Wilf said, she'd pulled an Elly. I hope for everyone's sake she doesn't think that now that she's starting to drown, Claire the lifeguard will come to her rescue. People don't swoop out of the sky to save the heedless from themselves, after all; that only happens in the soaps.
Fortunately, Mike and Dee are, as I said, not as badly off. They are, of course, deeply concerned about Robin and hope for the best but other than that, things seem to be going well. Meredith has become quite the little farmer in her short time there and hopes that they might stay in the community for good. The only real obstacle that anyone sees is ridding themselves of what even Mike now calls Casa Foob. He hopes to sell it but is willing to rent it now that it looks as if the mental hygiene people are planning to put his parents away and thus remove the possibility of surprise visits.
They sort of deserve it for the way that they treated April this last year; I don't think that it's been stressed quite enough that the two of them robbed her of what should have been the time of her life. Phil told me that she'd put a brave face on things (Mike, you see, was doing that thing I do with martini glasses when I'm angry: prepare to take a sip, curse and smash the glass. It may not do anything besides keep your blood alcohol down but it feels sooooooo good.)
but it's obvious that her graduation ceremony isn't going to live up to the title of her yearbook. The memories are not precious in the least. In any event, she's far away from Milboring now. The only time she'll return is for memorial services and civil commitment hearings.
As for me, I'm having a busy summer; there's a lot to be done and only a short time to do it all. It may not be what an Elly, a Connie Poirier or an Annie Nichols might do but it keeps my mind alert and from watching Day Eleventy-Zillion of the Death of Michael Jackson. I hope that by next month, CNN will have moved on.
Until then, yours,
Mira.
