Grey's Part III

I was disappointed. Really disappointed.

I guess it was the interactions among the dead, the nearly dead, and the living. None of it rang true to me. More like wishful thinking.

This is a conversation I remember, from a sunny afternoon in July of 1971. We are standing and sitting around the back door, my stepsister and stepbrothers, whose mother has just died suddenly and unexpectedly, and my brother and I, whose mother has been dead for ten years. My stepsister, who at 22 is the oldest, says, "It's so . . . strange. One minute someone is completely here and the next minute she's completely gone. She is not anywhere in this world and she never will be again." And then she looks at my brother and me and continues. "And you guys have known that all these years."

OK, So...Grey's

I am adjusting to reality here. (Yes, I, understand that that is a ridiculous statement in the context of a tv show. Whatever.) Meredith may well die.

People keep saying that she can't die, because the show is named for her. But the show is named for a book. I don't know when the book was first published (sometime in the 1850s-60s?), but Meredith Grey is a newcomer to the Grey name. So yes, she could die.

What I love about this show is that the characters are so -- well, they are so understandable. We can see something of ourselves in each one. And they keep on growing and changing, just as we do.

Christina: So driven, so callous, so my-father-died-and-therefore-I-have-to-achieve-something. Got that one down.

Meredith: Yes, I know. Dark and twisty. Accomplished but tortured. What a stroke of genius last night, to repeat the Code Black two-parter. A reminder, hours after her mother has srceamed at her that she is nothing but mediocre, that she was the one who saved the bazooka guy, and everyone else. Except for Dylan, who was doomed as soon as he got up that day. Do you remember what it was like to embark upon your adult life, scared of everything but determined to do it anyway?

Bailey: Who doesn't want to be Bailey? Bailey isn't scared of everything, or anything, really. Bailey is my hero on the days Christina isn't.

Alex: Alex is so selfish. And so vulnerable. Remember how he looked at Izzie when she passed him on the stairs on prom night? His story will be worth waiting for.

Izzie: OK, she looks like a rock star and now she IS a rock star. And she bakes. Where did our tough trailer park girl learn to bake like that? Admittedly, Izzie is the one with whom I have the least in common. The blonde hair and the baking and all. But that grief, that on-the-cold-floor-all-night grief? That I get.

Addison: Addison's middle name is turning out to be Compassion. When it isn't Loneliness. Who knew?

The McGuys. McChief. McDreamy. McPreston. McSteamy. McGeorge. They all want someone to love them. Interesting gender flip.

If Meredith does die, who will Rise To The Occasion? I'm thinking no one, and then it will be just like real life.

Grey's Tonight

I am not going to think about this episode.

People die all the time in real life. Unexpectedly, and young, and they leave devastation in their wake and people who never recover, not really.

That happens on Grey's, too. Dylan. Denny.

Not Meredith, right?

I'm sticking with Izzie and the survival thing.

Not Meredith.

Because I cannot watch Derek and Christina if it's Meredith.

More on Grey's

Lisa is right. The post about last night's episode at www.greyswriters.com is worth a read.

Another part of last night's episode just popped into my head. Meredith is talking to Christina. They know that George's father is going to die. And Meredith notes that her long-absent father is alive and well, upstairs with his second family, but that he means nothing to her. If he were to die, her life would not change. She wonders whether there is something wrong with her jealousy of George, who is about to lose the father he loves so much.

"Yes," says Christina.

At that point, we don't yet know that Christina lost her father long ago.

"Yes," says Christina, because she knows that for Meredith and her father, there is still the possibility of a future. And she is proven right, when Meredith later extracts her first tidbit of personal information about her father: that she inherited her capacity for snoring from him, and that there is a practical solution which may preserve her relationship with Derek. The father who means nothing to her helps her with the love of her life.

George's father at least got to meet the love of George's life, and to encourage George to put aside the baggage destroying that relationship. Christina's never even got to see her grow up.

They Got It Right

George: I don't know how to exist in a world in which my father doesn't.

Christina: Yeah, that never really changes.

*************

I knew there had to be a reason why Christina is my favorite character.

Ten Things This Week

1. Teaching Chinese philosophy to ninth graders. Talk of Daoism led to talk of ecology which led to talk of other "ologies" which led to one young lady asking, "What is gynecology, anyway?" I provided a definition and then asked, "Is there anything else we need to clear up today?"

2. I saw five deer, all together, when I was out walking the other evening. One of them was very small, obviously pretty new.

3. I really don't like living in a house where no cat lies curled up anywhere at all. Today I thought I saw her lying on the pile of papers on the dining room table. But, of course, she wasn't.

4. I'm spending Yom Kippur visiting Steel City Seminary.

5. Some people said some really wonderful things to me this past week. And one person said something really, really terrible. Win some, lose some, I guess.

6. I am struggling to upload pictures today ~ but here's one from Iona that suddenly popped right up. It's a view from what's left of the 13th century nunnery.

7. I've been listening to Vivaldi all week. Everyone should hear Les Violons de France play the Four Seasons in Ste. Chapelle on a summer evening but, barring that, a car CD player will do. (Yes ~ three links there ~ the second one is the music.)

8. Christina Yang has always been my favorite Grey's Anatomy character, but this week Miranda Bailey grabbed that slot.

9. The eighth graders brought a cake to class to celebrate the birthday of one of their number. It was a very large cake.

10. I saw the first juncoes of the fall yesterday. Regular readers know that I do NOT consider that to be a good sign. I know that Theresa loves winter, but I most emphatically do not.

Seriously! (Stuff, None of It Particularly Related)

I'm not doing so well with the sabbatical, am I?

I guess I might as well give up.

People have been tossing Grey's Anatomy quotes all over the place. Are you scary and damaged? Or dark and twisty? Or just, like me, addicted to the How to Save A Life music video? Seriously? Seriously!

(They could not possibly have done a more magnificent job with Izzie and her terrible grief. And what about that Miranda and hers?)

I see that this has been one of those weeks in my life. A week ago I was doing one of the readings at a Catholic Mass. Tomorrow night I start facilitating a class on Richard Foster's Celebrations of Discipline in my Presby church. And a couple of days ago I was eating apple slices dipped in honey for Rosh Hashanah.

A couple of people have asked me about Ignatian spirituality. Here's a terrific link. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but most of it presupposes some knowledge on the part of the reader. I think this one is really helpful.

I have a couple of important meetings coming up. I'm finding that I have an amazing cheering section behind me. I am so grateful.

Parts of my life are really, really good right now. Parts of it are difficult. But it does seem that, one way or another, all manner of things shall be well.

Grey's Anatomy

Two hours last night.

Two hours tonight.

I am completely obsessed.

10:15
I am TOTALLY drained.

So.

A week of teacher meetings and almost a week of classes. Major energy demands. Stacks of papers graded and stacks to go. A pile of Inquirer essays of my own drafted. A church adult education/formation program almost in shape. Sons turning 22 tomorrow. One of them might show up.

So do we think this woman is going to do a single thing tonight beyond watching two Grey's Anatomy reruns?

P.S. Apollo is content enough but increasingly frail. A sad vigil.

Monday Night

Grey's Finale!!!