Is marriage forever? Sometimes it can seem like it. This short, fully-produced audio essay describes the tension between loving and LIVING WITH those we love. The writer's grandparents had a long and tender relationship, but the journey was not without its bumps. "The first time he tried to kill me..." Grandma would say. This piece can be edited for length.
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Transcript
My grandma used to enjoy telling the story of how her husband, she called him Mac, had tried to kill her. Twice. The fact that my grandpa would laugh along seemed to indicate it was just a story, nothing more, though now that I'm married myself I have a few doubts.
The FIRST time he tried to kill her, they'd gone for a drive in the mountains one Sunday (people did that then). Since it was fall and a bit chill, Grandma wore what she called her "fur," a pony skin coat that's even now hanging in my closet. One wouldn't expect my city-bred grandma to know, but surely my grandpa did when he suggested a walk through the woods: it was hunting season. And Grandma in her fur.
The first story would inevitably lead to the second, when they were fishing and my grandma, just under 5 feet tall and unable to swim, fell into the river. Caught in the current, she managed to turn onto her back, from whi...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Last year there were 2 million 77 thousand marriages in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Despite the fact that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce, people continue to tie the knot – maybe because the potential rewards are so high. Rosemary Langford remembers her grandparents and their 50 year marriage with fondness ... and a little bit of alarm.
OUTRO:So this Valentine's Day, when your sweetheart suggests a walk along the shore [or a visit to a local attraction that involves water, high places, potential danger], go ahead and trust ... but verify.
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Pieds | Felipe Vassao | 00:00 |
James Reiss
Posted on December 10, 2010 at 11:04 AM | Permalink
The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth
Rosemary Langford’s whimsical love song about her grandparents’ fifty-year marriage is not only appropriate as a drop-in for fast-approaching Valentine’s Day. It’s an accurate description of the institution of matrimony, which I’ve found as mysterious and unfathomable as Langford has. “Whose idea was it,” she asks midway in her piece, “[that] we should join forces with another person whose job it is (we believe) to provide everything we've ever wanted?. . . Might that be asking a little too much?”
If Adam and Eve were our first married couple, they sure had their problems. Langford’s grandma, perhaps not so differently from Eve, may have been guilty of deception when she contended that her husband tried to kill her—twice!
You’ll get to hear the genesis of these events, along with some music playing softly in the background. In every sense this is a “fully-produced audio essay”: it’s upbeat without being mawkish, its oral delivery is flawless, and its script reflects the considerable smarts of its producer.