Aloha Fear Time

I received some semi-shocking news yesterday as I made my way through my hometown newspaper on line – something that’s become part of my daily surfing routine. I’ve written before about my beloved “aunt” (really a second mother) who still lives in Keene and is north of 90 years in age. Yesterday the newspaper carried the news of the sudden death of her youngest son, in his mid-fifties, in Florida.

I cannot think of a more heart rending event than losing one of your children, even at the advanced ages involved here. It’s an affront to nature, parents are supposed to go first. I saw what losing my sister did to my mother; she was never the same person afterwards. This brought home to me the terror that is part of parenthood. From their very first days on earth I found myself sneaking into both my own kids’ rooms to ensure they were still breathing. This will remain my biggest fear until they plant me in the ground, well in advance of either of them.

I reached out to my aunt last night. Speaking on the phone with her can be a challenge because of her hearing but I could still hear the ache in her voice which was in turn painful for me. You never want loved ones to hurt even though that’s an irrational hope, life always intervenes. She has another, very devoted son who is helping with the arrangements for a very private funeral.

My wife and I took a break from packing the house up to see a movie last night. I had high hopes for Aloha because I’ve always been a fan of Cameron Crowe and the cast was stellar, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray amongst others. The added bonus was the setting on a military base in Hawaii where I spent a couple years.

My high hopes took a pummeling as the movie is a major disappointment and the blame can clearly be laid at the feet of writer/director Crowe. The plot and direction were all over the place to the point I remarked to my wife – “What a mess!” The actors were all very good but here was no chemistry between any of the romantic pairings. The only redeeming aspects were the familiar Hawaiian haunts but even that was a stretch; a major waste of incredible acting talent – avoid this.