markie d: : BEST CATHOLICS in the WORLD. The Monkeys are Just Around the Corner.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

BEST CATHOLICS in the WORLD. The Monkeys are Just Around the Corner.

Here we are at a regular family get together on a typical Friday night sing-a-long.

Look at us... aren't we the picture of everything wholesome. Sixties Americana at its finest. The best Catholic family in the world. (Joey thanks for the picture, I ripped off of Facebook).

Actually that isn't us.

This is us.

Here we are - you can see Gustav (my oldest brother) shooting the Blessed Virgin Mary and the rest of us training to be the most ornery kids since Cain and Able. If you look past the VW van in the driveway (right over the of the Buick) you can see the home of the famous Lennon Sisters.

The Lennon Sisters appeared on TV every Saturday night on the Lawrence Welk Show. They were the world's best Catholics in the history of the universe.

THEM

Them

Some of you might be asking what do the Lennon Sisters have to do with "The Infamous Zoo Story" that you promised to share with us last time. Everything actually! Do you know the kind of pressure the Lennons put on the average Catholics... Huge right? Well, image what it was like for my mother, with our motley crew, who happened to live practically right across the street.

We had kids hanging out of windows, shooting each other with BB guns and with home made arrows that had needles taped to the tips. We tied each other up, hit each other with sticks, terrorized the little old lady next door, stole her avocados and messed around with her "precious" Buick. My older brothers broke into the church vestry stole the communion wine and knocked the entire schoolyard fence down in their escape.

This pressure led my mother to plan the ill-fated trip to the zoo in the high hopes that she could tell a charming story in order to convince the ladies at the Catholic women's auxiliary on Sunday, that we were normal like most families in the parish. MY POOR MOTHER!

More about how we let all the monkeys out of the Zoo when I return to the blog tomorrow. Strap on your seat belt and tell a friend, because you have never heard a story like this... where fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

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No Other Family Like Ours - seriously

WHAT OTHER FAMILY IN THE WORLD let all of the monkeys out of the Zoo, been pranked by the sitting President of the United States in a rouge encounter, chased in cities, chased out of cities and chased down by the cops. Who in their right mind voluntarily electrocute themselves just for fun and dared to electrify the nuns around the corner—who neither volunteered nor had fun? WHAT OTHER FAMILY has had more broken bones, pulled more pranks, have had a plethora of runaway rattlesnakes and other large reptiles terrorize their neighborhood. WHAT OTHER FAMILY grew Mexican Tomato plants that never grew tomatoes and had leaky boats that refuse to float or Escaped death more times? Who had cars on blocks, trucks as trash barges and flowerbeds sprouting rusted bikes, mislaid sparkplugs and abandoned carburetors instead of flowers? Meet the DAHLINS

And to think we survived and came out normal—well, mostly.

The Truimph of Overcoming

I use the word dysfunction with deliberate intention and with great respect in serving the main point of this blog. In the wild ramblings of a kid I ruminate on the idea that my family was not just dysfunctional but was the “most dysfunctional family” on the planet—that’s the set up.

As I look to the other “normal” plain-wrap families next door and across the street that had tidy yards and flowerbeds believing that the grass is greener on the other side (well the grass was greener), it shouldn’t shock anyone to realize that there is dysfunction in all of us—often times masked by tidy lawns and clean exteriors. Along with joy, success and adventure, life is filled with disappointment, failure, pain, and betrayal from those who have let us down. This is what it means to be human. I admit that I faced some disappointment in trying to fit in and longed for acceptance as the youngest boy of our wolf pack, but in large part I can honestly say that I had more fun and more adventure, in what I would call a happy childhood—despite the numerous broken bones. Yet, I would be remiss if I did not brag a bit and say, “Yeah, but...Look at all the great stories.”

Though, I dig deep into the mind and explore the full range of emotions of this young kid who felt detached, wondered about his existence, about his place in the family and his connection to the universe—He came out okay.

The older Markie D loves his brothers and sisters and holds no grudges.

Markie D has found this elusive connection to the universe and is well adjusted—and yes, still a little bit crazy. He has been married for 34 years to an amazing artist, Kerry, and has four incredibly gifted and talented adult children.

Oh, BTW… He mows his lawn, parks a car in the garage and has flowers in the flowerbeds and desires boats that float and less adventure in every outing and more "plain-wrap."

May you find your connection to the universe that brings healing, wholeness, forgiveness and a sense of hope as you look to your future.

markie d:

'72 swim team

Sunday, April 28, 2013

BEST CATHOLICS in the WORLD. The Monkeys are Just Around the Corner.

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