Mother we call Ammi and she winces every time there’s a curse word on the t.v. Winces, like a you-walk-up-and-pretend-to-throw-something-at-her-head
wince.
It’s visceral.
She is not faking this.
She is not faking this.
Strange that a woman so smart so strong can
be all but taken out by a single “damn”.
Once, in their home, I saw Abbu watching “Die Hard”. Ammi appeared nearly epileptic.
And on Thanksgiving this year, Abbu flipping through channels on the t.v. said, “Hey, look: ‘Django Unchained’!” but we
all talked him down from it, barely.
We laughed and laughed about it, too, but wow: How I
wish the power of words could set off physical reactions in me.