The Importance of Being Ernie: by Barry Livingston

Author:Barry Livingston [Livingston, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780806535098
Google: AHRFYgEACAAJ
Amazon: 0806535091
Publisher: Citadel
Published: 2011-10-25T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

Meanwhile, Back Home at the Ranch

While my actor career was gaining momentum, life at my parents’ house was falling apart. They’d been on the verge of separating since I was born. After twenty-five years of marriage, my mom was serious about leaving my dad. He was in his late fifties and was done living up to the high expectations of his youth. No more halfhearted attempts at writing the Great American Novel or returning to college to get a degree in psychology or law. Working as a salesman at Charles Furniture in Watts would be the pinnacle of his professional life. It was a depressing revelation, but an honest one. There was little point in torturing himself anymore about his shortcomings. My dad hoped that my mom would accept this. She didn’t.

My mom felt betrayed by my dad’s failure to launch. She had bought a first-class ticket for a ride on the Spruce Goose, only to learn that the amazing plane was never going to fly. She wanted her money back, and then some. Her growing dissatisfaction about life wasn’t restricted to my dad; I was suddenly in her crosshairs.

I was a young adult now, eager to take control of my future, whether it was in show business or not. I no longer needed or desired my mother’s participation in my career. Blame it on a young man’s ego or vanity. One way or the other, my declaration of independence didn’t sit well with her. She felt abandoned. In her eyes, I wasn’t showing enough gratitude for her efforts that built my career. She played the motherly “guilt card,” and that stung.

Granted, I was a young man, and no doubt self-absorbed, but I tried to show my appreciation as best I could. I soon realized, though, that no amount of hugs and kisses, applause or words of thanks could fix her low self-esteem or fill the echoing void in her life. She had no real education, no professional life, not even a hobby. All that my mom had was a failed marriage and another son who was leaving the nest. It was pretty overwhelming, for her and me.

I came around the house as much as possible, hoping to mediate a truce between my parents. That was a dangerous mission. Their anger seemed as complex as the war between the Jews and Palestinians.

Despite my best efforts, their “cold war” would occasionally break out into physical hostilities. Once, my mom cracked a bust of Albert Einstein over my dad’s head. That was quite an ironic comment considering my father’s supposed genius status.

Unfortunately, my younger siblings, Bill and Michelle, were still living at home and had to witness the ugliness. I’d get them out of the house as much as possible, to the movies or the zoo, but it was never enough. I wished I could have done more. Parents are like superpowers in their children’s world. There’s not much that Poland can do to stop a war between Russia and the United States.

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