Musings of a Dinosaur

A Family Doctor in solo private practice; I may be going the way of the dinosaur, but I'm not dead yet.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Message From my Father

I received the following:
I am directing a staged reading of a play...[dealing] with Sir Thomas More, who had many daughters and adopted more...as viewed by the women in his life. I take pride in having paralleled him, with three daughters plus two more acquired later in life. Of course I didn't serve as Chancellor under King Henry VIII...but then again, I was not beheaded for treason [ed: yet]. One thing that comes out in the play is that his oldest daughter...pulled his head off the pike where it was displayed after his beheading. Would you have done this for me?
My Dear Adored and Adoring Father,

If you were ever beheaded for treason (or any other infraction) I would be devastated. Not quite as devastated as you, obviously, but sufficiently so. I would most certainly pluck your detached head from its display pike, gently clutching you by the ears (since you don't have enough hair to get much of a grip) and surreptitiously spirit it away to be laid to rest with the rest of you. Most likely I would accomplish this task in the dead of night, because if I did it when someone could espy me, the overwhelming likelihood is that I would quickly share your fate, which I wouldn't want, and would hope you wouldn't want for me (despite the fact that you wouldn't care, what with already being dead and all).

I hope this answers your question.

Regarding the play: Break a leg.

5 Comments:

At Thu Mar 25, 10:09:00 AM, Blogger LenapeGirl said...

So, why - instead of dwelling on the philosophical aspect of this - does my mind insist of hearing and feeling the actual moment of pulling the head from the pike? The resistance, the "pop" sound, the jellied effluvium?

 
At Thu Mar 25, 11:09:00 AM, Blogger #1 Dinosaur said...

Because you're one sick puppy, LG.

 
At Thu Mar 25, 01:37:00 PM, Blogger Jennifer George said...

That sounds like an email my dad would send me. And nice use of the word "espy."

 
At Thu Mar 25, 03:02:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sigh.

Where to begin.

I'll just say: that's so unfair.

Yes, sibling birth order resentments are lifelong.

Love,

Kensington MD

P.S. Okay, I'll go with this:

SECONDBORN DAUGHTER (speaking in an annoying whine): "Why can't *I* be the one to pluck your detached head from its display pike?? Why can't *I* experience the resistance, the "pop" sound, the jellied effluvium?? That's not F-A-I-R!!!"

P.P.S. Dear A&AF: See you tonight!

 
At Sat Apr 03, 06:44:00 PM, Blogger Rogue Medic said...

That's why I only have one daughter - because I only have one head. I can't have them fighting over it. OTOH, if nobody were to remove my head, people might excuse it, since I only have one daughter.

Either way, she explained to me, long ago, I will be moving with her - alive or dead. As long as I am alive, I am cooperating. I don't want to find out that this was an ultimatum.

I hope that she uses some sort of mechanical conveyance, since I expect my head to be still attached and I am not the easiest person to carry. My preference would be for incineration, since other methods of storage are not very practical for travel.

I might have to get the executioner to help me get my face into the right expression of silliness. 8P

 

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