Childhood

Watching Mad Men from the beginning. Finding it very thought-provoking. I remember some of that time. My dad traveled a lot. At first, I remember we took him to the airport, and my mom would cry. People would have us over for dinner because my mom was alone. Eventually, we stopped taking him to the airport. And my mom stopped crying. And either the invitations stopped coming, or we didn’t go. My mom was left alone during some real crises – the Hurricane Agnes flood in 1972, for example. She learned to handle things.
The periodic absences of my father really had an impact on the family. He would sometimes be away over a birthday and send me a telegram. As my brother and I got older, it seemed there was more and more to catch him up on when he came home.
He always reminded me of the Rocket Man in the Ray Bradbury story. When he was home, he wanted to be traveling. When he was traveling, he wanted to be home.
Postcards, letters and telegrams aren’t the same thing as watching your children grow up. Producing presents from your suitcase doesn’t make up the time you’ve lost.
I’m not sure which trip was the “one too many” that pushed my mom to take on both roles, but she’s still a very strong, independent woman. And sometimes, that’s not ideal. Now that Dad’s semi-retired, she’s having to learn to actually live with him,and it isn’t easy.
Strange how a television show can bring all of this stuff to the surface….