Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Fringe Bonding

On Friday my father is scheduled to have surgery to remove much of his right lung. He's been battling cancer in various parts of his body for about a decade now.
My father and I have a problematic relationship. In some ways we're alike, we have the same sense of humor, but in other ways we're so diametrically opposed that it's difficult to believe that we're sharing the same plane of existence. Which also might explain why we both love Fringe.
So, yesterday I was at the hospital all day with my dad while he got biopsied and scanned. While we waited all he wanted to talk about was Tuesday night's Fringe. Which we did. My mother sat by the bed and knitted barely listening, sometimes interjecting something along the lines of: A cow in the lab seems unsanitary. I would argue that the cow is a metaphor for the easily led masses, but that seems to pat a conclusion to draw. For all I know the cow is just a cow, or maybe an ancient god reincarnated who is really leading Walter. Or the cow is just a cow.
Anyway, Dad seemed to be in much better spirits by the time I left, fully satisfied that we'd plumbed the depths of meaning within Fringe...and more importantly, his mind was off all of the medical stuff at hand. Better to bond late than never.

3 comments:

drollgirl said...

i hope your dad is going to be ok. the whole parent/kid-relationship thing is so tough sometimes, and so easy other times. it is good that you find things in common, especially as they distract him from the less pleasant stuff he is facing. i bet he loves you like crazy!

jennifer from pittsburgh said...

Thanks for the kind sentiments, Droll! I'll be off to sit at the hospital with my mom and sister to see how the surgery goes. Take care after your crash!

Anonymous said...

I think that you can only have a moment like that and smile...anytime you can reunite or share any sort of bonding at any time of life is something to hold onto.
FRINGE is my new fav show...not much else new that's great on the ol' boob-tube....good luck to you & your Dad.
MEW