At a Wedding in Santa Cruz, Circa 1985

Posted on December 15, 2003 in Silicon Valley

A relative of the family was imprisoned in the kitchen because he could not walk or talk like the rest of us. Family members came by and dropped food into his mouth. He gurgled and wiggled like a dog accepting a treat.

I sat next to my mother across from him. We didn’t know anyone at this party. A little girl stared at the happy twisted gnome, came up to my mother and asked “What’s wrong with him?”

“Aren’t you glad that you aren’t like that?” said my mother in a voice loud enough that he could hear.

I knew that he had a mind. I couldn’t think of a way to show that I didn’t think like her because I was afraid of everybody at that wedding, especially her. I craved two keyboards and a modem so he and I could talk man to man.