Daily Archives: May 7, 2008

THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO MMMRUH!

The Never-Ending Story

by Geralyn Ruane

He laughed as he walked through the front door.

I was in the kitchen looking for the bay leaves when I heard the screen door open, then the sound of him laughing. I knew he had to be laughing at one of the cats, but which one and what it was this time didn’t matter. The love of my life was laughing as he walked into the house . . . mmmruh!

This is the kind of life I want to live, one in which cats are part of the family and we laugh as we come home. Mmmruh! Do I have everything I want? No. I’m not the one who’s going to look into the Mirror of Erised and see nothing but myself. I think a lot of us are like that – always wanting more and more, even when we get what we want most.

I remember when I was young, I thought, If only we had Atari, I’d never be bored again! Well, guess what? We got Atari one Christmas, and indeed I dedicated hours of my life to Space Invaders, Pitfall! and Ms. Pac-Man. But those video games hardly made me happy for ever after. Lots of things got me down, despite the game cartidges and joysticks. Like the dog Dempsey. At least, that’s what I’ve called her in my head for about thirty years.

When I was a kid, I was waiting in our old Chevy while my mom ran into the supermarket when I noticed a small Toto-like dog climb out the window of a nearby car. I darted out of the station wagon, grabbed the dog, and proudly returned her to her family when they came back to the car. I felt like a real hero.

“Actually,” the mom said, “we left the window open on purpose because we’re trying to get rid of her. Do you want her?”

My mom said No. After all, we already had Grady the big red dog and Pepsi the tabby cat. But I couldn’t stop dreaming about how cool it would have been if we’d adopted that little dog. I would have called her Dempsey.

• Nowadays, I rescue abandoned animals. Nowadays, I’d find little Dempsey girl a good home. So that’s one dream I made come true. Mmmruh!
• Ever since first grade, I wanted a pet goat. So, when I was twenty-three, I adopted one and named her Cordelia. Mmmruh!
• I used to dream I’d find a guy who loved me just the way I am, all uncool and unfashionable but unmistakably me. Not only did I find such a guy, but this is a guy who will crawl 200 yards beneath a strip mall just to save one ungrateful cat who doesn’t understand words like “fumigation,” “tenting,” or “toxic.” Mmmruh!

So, if I made these dreams come true, I can make my evolving dreams happen, too. And so can you. Let’s not be people who see life as a series of challenges to overcome, a litany of problems to survive. This too shall pass sucks as a personal mantra.

Let’s live life on a never-ending kaleidoscope of dreams to pursue. Mmmruh!

Geralyn Ruane’s new favorite numbers are 18 and 1. She co-hosts the radio show Better Times After 50 on AdviceRadio.com when she’s not drinking chocolate milk straight from the spoon or writing humorous women’s fiction. Her short story “Jane Austen Meets the New York Giants” is published in the New York Times Bestselling anthology The Right Words at the Right Time Volume 2.