Okay, someone just asked the very first question that I've been given about Keeping the Tryst. This is from a person has finished part one.
Here's the question: "What was the joke that you told your uncle?"
If you've been reading the book, scroll down past the spoiler space and you'll find the answer...
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The question pertains to the joke that Mom asked me to share with my Uncle Frank, who was Dad's brother-in-law, late that night after they got back from the hospital following Dad's accident earlier in the afternoon.
I had heard this joke at school earlier that afternoon. And I admit that at the time I thought it was pretty funny, though I hadn't grasped yet just how serious it really was. It's not a joke I would tell now, forty years later.
Here's the joke:
"What do you call Rock Hudson in a wheelchair?"
"Roll-AIDS."
This wasn't very long after actor Rock Hudson had died of AIDS. Hudson's coming forward about being infected with HIV was a revelation that sent shockwaves through American pop culture. And of course Rolaids is a popular antacid/heartburn medication.
Definitely an Eighties-era joke and like I said, it's not one I would tell anyone these days. But I fleetingly mention it in the book, it sort of adds to the scene that I'm describing: Mom and Uncle Frank returning after being at the hospital all evening, bringing cold hamburgers from Hardee's for my sister and I's dinner. When I had told Mom the joke on the way back from school that afternoon she said she didn't like it. And now here was Mom wanting me to share that same joke with my uncle. It kind of underscores how dire the day had become just like that (Chris snaps fingers).
If any more questions come, I'll be sure to provide an answer (as best I can).
And if you want to read my book here's the page on Amazon where you can find Keeping the Tryst. Available in hardcover and for Kindle readers and apps.
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