Together Again

You`ll understand if I don`t let you

go in with me, won`t you, Gilbert?

Under the circumstances,

I would like a moment alone with my father.

Do you have to be so darn dramatic

about everything?

Good night! Your father is only a statue.

How does he know

whether you`re alone with him or not?

I forgive you for that, Gilbert.

I realize you can`t help it if you

don`t understand about certain things,

you being from the South the way you are.

That statue just happens to

be symbolic of the very soul

of this town, that`s all.

Now it looks like it`s going to rain,

so if you don`t mind, l`m in kind of a hurry.

I`ll see you at school tomorrow.

You will not.

You`ll come by for me like you always do.

I know it.

-Hello, Diana.

-Good evening.

I always save all the ribbons.

Sometimes the wordings on them

absolutely make you cry,

they`re so beautiful.

Well, it ain`t every statue

that has memorial services

-for it every year.

-Well, I guess not.

The Water Department is

always the most poetical.

Last year, their ribbon said,

``Every drop of our water is

a tear for your departure.``

Isn`t that super?

It makes me so happy to think

of all the hoses and faucets and things

all over town crying about my father.

A birthday party for a statue!

Why, it`s enough to turn your stomach.

Folks thought a heap of Jonathan, Mort.

Well, I didn`t.

And now I not only have to

look at him day and night,

but I have to look at him from behind.

The first thing l`m going to do

when l`m mayor of this town

is get rid of that hulking insult!

I wouldn`t be so sure of myself,

if I was you, Mort.

Folks think a heap of Anne, too.

A lady mayor. Why, it`s a disgrace.

There`s lots of lady things nowadays, Mort.

It wouldn`t startle me none if

someday we`ll have a lady president.

-I hope l`m dead!

-Anne has done a good job, Mort.

I was talking to somebody just

the other night about her reelection and...

You`re supposed to be talking about me.

You work for me, don`t you?

Sure, Mort, but you`ve been running

for mayor against the Crandall family

for so many years that

nobody pays any attention to it anymore.

-lf I can`t beat a woman...

-She has done a good job, Mort.

But she`ll slip. Women always do.

And when she does, l`ll be around, Perc.

I`ll be around.

Jessie`s waxed the stairs again.

I wish she wouldn`t.

That`s the third time l`ve slipped.

Besides, it makes the hall smell

like an old bee`s nest.

I told her about it a dozen times,

but it seems Diana likes them waxed.

It seems Jessie likes them waxed.

It seems they`ve been waxed for 100 years.

It also seems you`re a big shot in your office

and a nonentity at home.

It`s starting to rain. Has Diana come in yet?

Why should she come in?

There are two men out there

watching her be wistful.

She won`t walk out on that in a hurry.

-Shame on you. How do you feel?

-Gout isn`t very pleasant, you know.

Of course not.

It seems such a pity it has to flare up

every time the family is expected

to make a public appearance.

-lt does seem a pity, doesn`t it?

-Yes.

That`s just what I thought.

It`s a little late, isn`t it? Faker!

For heaven`s sakes, don`t tell Diana.

Father, I really should.

It would serve you right.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

-Well, l`m not.

-Grandfather!

What?

Hello, Diana.

Grandfather Crandall, you weren`t sick.

You didn`t have the gout at all.

You just didn`t want to

go to the anniversary. You cheated.

I don`t know where you get

this dishonesty about things.

You certainly didn`t get it from me

or my father.

It`s not that I care about myself,

but I think it`s so humiliating to my father

that his own father...

For heaven`s sakes, don`t cry.

I`ll go next year.

I`ll go tomorrow. But don`t cry.

First thing you know, you`ll get thin again

and your mother will have my hide.

You think I got thin on purpose

just to get you in trouble.

I can`t help it if l`m metabolic, can l?

Darling, please!

You`ll feel wretched tomorrow.

Of course I will, but it won`t be my fault,

will it?

I`m perfectly willing to be healthy,

but if certain persons are always

upsetting your glands, how can l?

Run on upstairs and l`ll send Jessie up.

I don`t want Jessie, Mother. I want you.

All right, darling,

I`ll be up in a minute.

It`s like living with a box of matches.

-lt`s just her age, Father.

-Her age?

You`ve been telling me that for 10 years.

What age does she have to be

before she gets unmetabolic?

I think it`s all an act, anyway.

Don`t judge everybody by yourself, darling.

And take that silly thing off your foot.

All right, all right.

Diana does worry me, though, Father.

She isn`t strong

and yet she seems healthy enough.

It`s hard to put your finger on.

If you`ll take my advice,

you`ll put a hand on hard.

I did that once, remember?

She went to bed with a nervous breakdown.

Nobody was more upset than you were.

Remember?

Well, she looked so little in that big bed.

Exactly. And I am just enough of an

egotist to love her loving me so much.

But it makes me feel so terribly responsible.

More so than if she were a child of my own.

I don`t suppose

you know what I mean by that?

Yes, I do. You are not my own child

and look how I worry about you.

Me? Why, for heaven`s sake?

Well, it isn`t normal

for a beautiful young woman

to have her sense of duty

all swollen up like yours is.

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