Peterson Toscano's A Musing: Marvin Meltdown

Friday, June 30, 2006

Languishing in the heat with sharp back pain, Marvin lashes out at the ones who love him and cook meatloaf to prove it.

At 8:41 PM , Anonymous said...: Marvin...

I don't know about you, but I start getting anxious when I feel dependent on others. (And I wonder if it is a Christian thing, or an American thing, when I start to feel that way.) But, I found myself breathing deeply a couple times after listening to you just to relax.

Listen... Peterson has my phone number. I'm a little bit wierd in that I have days when I don't like the phone much, but I try to be responsive to my friends.

And, it doesn't matter to me whether you think of me as a friend of yours, because I think of you as a friend of mine, OK? I'm serious about that.

Maybe your mom will run for groceries (or for a couple more fans) at some point, and you can call me.

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that, among the people who listen to you, I'm hardly the only one who cares about you a lot. Say the word, and they'll probably be there for you.

(20 years ago, I had an 88-y/o neighbor named Esther who I thought was kind of a drag -- she kept calling me for help reading and paying her bills because of her poor eyesight. When she died a few years later, I found out that she had actually given me an amazing gift, because she had refused to let her family see or help with her bills for decades. Sometimes, when we tell someone "I need you," we are giving them something precious, not taking or demanding.)

Take care, friend...