Stick a Fork in Me

I don't think my Zoloft is working. Does anyone know whether it's the kind of drug to which one builds up a tolerance? Granted, there are days when I forget to take it, but more than not, I'm pretty regular with it.

Erica tells me that it's not supposed to cut off all emotions. And if that's true, what exactly is the point?

Of course, it's been a trying few weeks for me. The whole family found the blog (Hi everyone!) and the word from my sister is that I have been anointed with the end-all, be-all punishment of Southerners.

Susan. They all read it. And they are done with you.

My family has always had their ways of being done with someone -- none of which involves direct confrontation (except the year I ruined Christmas -- I'll tell you that one later).

Perhaps the most infamous of the line of the "Done With" in our family was my great Uncle Elzie. As a young boy, Elzie decided to run off to California in search of his dream to be a movie star. Family rumor has it that he actually made it into a couple of films, though I couldn't find him on IMDB. I am, however, pretty sure that this rumor is the only reason the family kept talking about him during holidays after he was done with.

You know, we have a relative that was in the movies

That and as a warning to the youngsters to not betray the family lest you become done with as well.

Uncle Elzie's most vicious crime was that after he left for California he reportedly never returned. Not for Christmas, Easter, Homecoming at the Baptist Church. Nothing. He deserted his Mama and Fitzgerald completely. All because that selfish bastard wanted a life of his own. The only acceptable way you can move away from home in my family is if you return for visits as often as humanly possible. (Because it's always so pleasant when we all get together.) And, more importantly, you should never succeed too much, lest you become uppity or think you're better than everyone else.

Now. My take on Uncle Elzie is this: I don't know him, or his Mama, so I'm not sure what the deal is there. Maybe she sucked. Or, maybe they loved each other and they talked on the phone twice a day and enjoyed their wonderful long-distance relationship. What I do know is that Elzie had a loving wife who visited us once with photos and stories and did her best to get Elzie back into the fold. The family was super nice and sat through the stories and photos and as soon as she left the conversation went straight to how Elzie betrayed everyone.

I secretly envied Uncle Elzie. His story seemed so exotic and exciting. And for me, in a world where the only options I knew I had were to either teach, type or raise babies, Uncle Elzie gave me hope.

Uncle Elzie, if you're out there, know that even though I never met you, I loved you. Thanks for the inspiration.

I made it.