Only the Best
Originally posted on January 31, 2009
Asher and Kohana went away over the Christmas holidays, staying once more in the Williamson family home in the southernmost part of the state. Although finding the perfect Christmas tree was the original reason for going so far, when they located it, they were both reluctant to cut it down to bring indoors. So they settled for visiting their perfect tree during their daily hikes in the woods, and returned the ornaments to the attic to be used at another time…
Kohana: You were awfully cute when you were a little boy.
Asher: I’m still cute. You told me so.
Kohana: Did I? I don’t recall...
Asher: Sure you did, when we were out hiking. I said, “Let’s get back so you can cook me my supper.” You said, “Who decided that I would do the cooking?” So I said, “That’s what womenfolk in these here parts do for their menfolk.” And then you said, “Don’t get cute with me, Asher Williamson.”
Kohana: That is hardly the same thing.
Asher: Hey, it works for me.
Kohana: I’m so glad we found this album up in the attic. Do you think we could bring it back with us when we return home?
Asher: I guess. What for?
Kohana: Going through it, seeing all those pictures of you and your brothers with your grandmother; it makes me feel like I knew her a little bit. I would have liked to have known your grandmother.
Asher: She would have liked that, too. She would have loved you.
Kohana: Do you really think so?
Asher: Yes, because you’re exactly the kind of person she told me I should look for.
Kohana: What kind of person is that?
Asher: She really disliked that I dated actresses, and urged me to find someone who was not in the theater business. I told you the thing she had about actors. She was convinced every one of them was as vain and self-serving as my father.
Kohana: With everything she went through, can you blame her?
Asher: I guess not. You know, after a few years of making stupid decisions, I finally began to heed her advice, but I was never optimistic that I would find someone who met the rest of her criteria.
Kohana: *with humor* She had criteria?
Asher: Grandma was convinced that her boys deserved only the best. And she was fond of giving us all kinds of advice. She talked a lot about how important it was, that I found someone to be with who was beautiful inside and out. Someone who would love me for myself and not try to change me into something I’m not; but who would come to understand me so well that her unspoken influence would help me become the best man I could be.
Kohana: That sounds like a tall order to be sure.
Asher: Yeah, it always sounded impossible to me. But then I met you.
Asher: And when I did, I finally understood exactly where she was coming from...
To be continued…