Thesis Postcard 2
maniacalmuse suggested I do a series of drabbles like she did of Padma/Adrian for my thesis characters. Here they are and enjoy! The link to the first postcard (with picture this time) is here as well.
Happy. That was the only word that could describe the picture; or rather, this was the only picture that could describe the word. The couple in the photograph was happiness personified, full of bright, wide smiles and sparkling eyes. I remember when it was taken-New Year’s Day about fifteen minutes after it had arrived, and the photographer (a friend of Zeke’s) had taken their picture against the backdrop of the tent that had been erected for the festivities. Aaron had had trouble keeping his hands off Jada all night, but who could blame him? She was beautiful that night, and that beauty radiated from her to everyone else blessed enough to be at the service. You couldn’t help but be moved; even I, someone who doesn’t even tear when slicing an onion, used my handkerchief more than once. Little Joshua was handsome holding the satin pillow on which the rings Aaron and I chose lay; during the ceremony, he’d become so restless that Aaron held him in his arms. I don’t think Jada minded; she got two kisses from her two favorite men, after all. But when it was my turn to kiss her, as we were taking a turn on the floor, all I could tell her was, “Thank you for making my son happy.” Twenty years have passed, and Jada was still making my son happy.
I’ll admit, Aaron McKensie was not my first choice for Jada Mae-in fact, he wasn’t even a possibility to be a choice-but when she came home almost twenty-five years ago and said she was pregnant by a white man, Lawd if I ain’t have a few choice words for my best friend! “You shoulda known better!” “You color struck?” “Why you let that white man play you?” But I was wrong; anyone lookin’ at this picture can tell I was the wrong one. I ain’t never seen no couple so happy. They always smiling whenever they together, and Aaron always has to have some contact with his wife-holdin’ her hand, squeezin’ her shoulder, kissin’ her temple-and Jada always gazes at Aaron adoringly in return. Often she’d come by the house and say, “Aaron did the cutest thing for me this mornin’ . . .” and it usually was something cute, something a guy would do when they first begin a relationship. In fact, Aaron was the one who remembered all those obscure “firsts” couples liked to commemorate. I mean really, who has an anniversary for “the-first-time-we-had-a-conversation”? They do, and no matter how silly it sounds, it ain’t silly to them. I guess reminders why they love each other go a long way to keeping them in love with each other. All I know is that tonight, just as in that picture, they still happiness personified twenty years later.
I never thought I’d live to see this day, but I’m glad the good Lawd saw fit for me to anyway. In all my ninety-eight years, I never thought I’d live to see someone in my family so happy, but you hope yo’ child learns from yo’ mistakes, and Lawd if Jada ain’t. She ain’t marry someone because someone else said she shoulda. She ain’t run off with the boy in an act of rebellion. She ain’t keep herself tied down to someone who couldn’t love her like she shoulda been. Aaron, unlike lesser men, had the courage to love Jada Mae, and Jada Mae had the courage to love him back. Lawd if they weren’t sayin’ things about them they were sayin’ ‘bout my own grandparents, but Aaron and Jada sho’ showed them! That boy loves-loves-my grandbaby as she deserves to be loved, and that’s all I have ever asked for her. Look at ‘em now: Aaron’s got his hands on her shoulders as he stands behind Jada, whispering somethin’ that’s causing that big ole wide smile to spread on her face, right before placin’ a kiss on her cheek. They are so oblivious to everything else around them, just in tune with each other . . . it’s a beautiful thing. Someone needs to take a picture of that and put it next to this one. Shucks, I’ll bet this new picture will have bigger smiles than the last one.
I hold KeKe in my arms, holding her close to me as her head rests on my shoulder, and over hers, I watch my parents come on the dance floor. My dad’s arm wraps around Mama’s waist while his free hand clasps hers and places them over his heart. They are staring at each other as if they were the only two people in the room-in the world. I’d grown up with those gazes, thinking that was normal between a mother and a father, until I grew up and realized that my parents were anything but normal. The racial aspect of the relationship notwithstanding, the fact they genuinely love and like each other is also not-so-normal. My brother, sister, and I are lucky and blessed to have them as parents, to be able to see genuine, authentic love and not think of it as some childish fantasy. This isn’t to say they didn’t fight. My goodness, I remember the time Ava had just turned five and Dad had bought her a thing of lipstick from the drugstore because she wanted it. Mama had a conniption over that! I think it was the first time I ever remember Dad sleeping on the couch, but darned if I didn’t come downstairs the next morning to see Mama down there with him! Yeah, that’s what I want-I want what they have. I see KeKe’s face whenever she comes to our house, and she always goes to the fireplace mantle to stare at my parents’ wedding picture. She did it when she was a little girl and she still does it now. I think we could have it together. Who knows, maybe twenty years from now we’ll be married and as happy as my parents were in that picture and on the dance floor right now.
Happy. That was the only word that could describe the picture; or rather, this was the only picture that could describe the word. The couple in the photograph was happiness personified, full of bright, wide smiles and sparkling eyes. I remember when it was taken-New Year’s Day about fifteen minutes after it had arrived, and the photographer (a friend of Zeke’s) had taken their picture against the backdrop of the tent that had been erected for the festivities. Aaron had had trouble keeping his hands off Jada all night, but who could blame him? She was beautiful that night, and that beauty radiated from her to everyone else blessed enough to be at the service. You couldn’t help but be moved; even I, someone who doesn’t even tear when slicing an onion, used my handkerchief more than once. Little Joshua was handsome holding the satin pillow on which the rings Aaron and I chose lay; during the ceremony, he’d become so restless that Aaron held him in his arms. I don’t think Jada minded; she got two kisses from her two favorite men, after all. But when it was my turn to kiss her, as we were taking a turn on the floor, all I could tell her was, “Thank you for making my son happy.” Twenty years have passed, and Jada was still making my son happy.
I’ll admit, Aaron McKensie was not my first choice for Jada Mae-in fact, he wasn’t even a possibility to be a choice-but when she came home almost twenty-five years ago and said she was pregnant by a white man, Lawd if I ain’t have a few choice words for my best friend! “You shoulda known better!” “You color struck?” “Why you let that white man play you?” But I was wrong; anyone lookin’ at this picture can tell I was the wrong one. I ain’t never seen no couple so happy. They always smiling whenever they together, and Aaron always has to have some contact with his wife-holdin’ her hand, squeezin’ her shoulder, kissin’ her temple-and Jada always gazes at Aaron adoringly in return. Often she’d come by the house and say, “Aaron did the cutest thing for me this mornin’ . . .” and it usually was something cute, something a guy would do when they first begin a relationship. In fact, Aaron was the one who remembered all those obscure “firsts” couples liked to commemorate. I mean really, who has an anniversary for “the-first-time-we-had-a-conversation”? They do, and no matter how silly it sounds, it ain’t silly to them. I guess reminders why they love each other go a long way to keeping them in love with each other. All I know is that tonight, just as in that picture, they still happiness personified twenty years later.
I never thought I’d live to see this day, but I’m glad the good Lawd saw fit for me to anyway. In all my ninety-eight years, I never thought I’d live to see someone in my family so happy, but you hope yo’ child learns from yo’ mistakes, and Lawd if Jada ain’t. She ain’t marry someone because someone else said she shoulda. She ain’t run off with the boy in an act of rebellion. She ain’t keep herself tied down to someone who couldn’t love her like she shoulda been. Aaron, unlike lesser men, had the courage to love Jada Mae, and Jada Mae had the courage to love him back. Lawd if they weren’t sayin’ things about them they were sayin’ ‘bout my own grandparents, but Aaron and Jada sho’ showed them! That boy loves-loves-my grandbaby as she deserves to be loved, and that’s all I have ever asked for her. Look at ‘em now: Aaron’s got his hands on her shoulders as he stands behind Jada, whispering somethin’ that’s causing that big ole wide smile to spread on her face, right before placin’ a kiss on her cheek. They are so oblivious to everything else around them, just in tune with each other . . . it’s a beautiful thing. Someone needs to take a picture of that and put it next to this one. Shucks, I’ll bet this new picture will have bigger smiles than the last one.
I hold KeKe in my arms, holding her close to me as her head rests on my shoulder, and over hers, I watch my parents come on the dance floor. My dad’s arm wraps around Mama’s waist while his free hand clasps hers and places them over his heart. They are staring at each other as if they were the only two people in the room-in the world. I’d grown up with those gazes, thinking that was normal between a mother and a father, until I grew up and realized that my parents were anything but normal. The racial aspect of the relationship notwithstanding, the fact they genuinely love and like each other is also not-so-normal. My brother, sister, and I are lucky and blessed to have them as parents, to be able to see genuine, authentic love and not think of it as some childish fantasy. This isn’t to say they didn’t fight. My goodness, I remember the time Ava had just turned five and Dad had bought her a thing of lipstick from the drugstore because she wanted it. Mama had a conniption over that! I think it was the first time I ever remember Dad sleeping on the couch, but darned if I didn’t come downstairs the next morning to see Mama down there with him! Yeah, that’s what I want-I want what they have. I see KeKe’s face whenever she comes to our house, and she always goes to the fireplace mantle to stare at my parents’ wedding picture. She did it when she was a little girl and she still does it now. I think we could have it together. Who knows, maybe twenty years from now we’ll be married and as happy as my parents were in that picture and on the dance floor right now.