I hadn’t planned to do much this long weekend. I had a couple of friends over on Saturday night and we ate some delicious Indian takeaway, caught up on news and watched a Chilean film called Gloria, and as my friend informed me it has a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was very real, and a little bit uncomfortable to watch, unlike many of the movies I see, ie Mean Girls which JJ and I watched together the other evening.
Speaking of movies I also went to see Mildred Pierce on Thursday night at The Mercury. If nothing else, it confirmed for me that the general tough love approach I have with my son is a pretty good one. Mildred Pierce’s approach toward providing everything for her daughter didn’t turn out well for everyone.
I got up late on Sunday morning, checked my phone and had a message from my sister telling me that a friend’s son had died in a car accident overnight. As sudden deaths are obviously unexpected, and when someone dies far too soon and far too young it makes you think about the fragility of life. So the Sunday night I’d planned at home by myself watching tv turned into going out with friends to The Gov to see Radio Birdman and I’m very glad that I did. The last time I saw them was at a Big Day Out, pre JJ, so at least 15 years ago. I had a good position away from the inevitable moshing and crowd surfing, which has never been my thing because I’d rather see the music than worry about a foot in my face.
Last weekend I spoke to my parents and they told me that a friend of theirs had suddenly dropped dead. He would have been in his late 60s, early 70s, but it was still unexpected. Actually, usually when I speak to my parents or my sister, all of whom live in the country, there’s been some death or another and it’s rarely that they slipped away quietly after a long and happy life. And out of these deaths there have been far too many from car accidents, including two of my first cousins.
As deaths usually do, they put ones own life’s little problems into perspective and I count my blessings.
