Read by David Morse and Susan Morse
“Emmy, come on! We’ve got to get going.”
“Dad, I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“No seriously, you have no idea. Today’s the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge opening. There’s great stuff to see and do.”
“Dad, I am really not interested.”
“Emmy come on, we’ve got to get going, there’s music, there’s performances, you will have a great time. It’s down at Crissy Field.”
“Dad, I really don’t want to go out.”
“Emmy! Look at the schedule here. At 1:15 they have the San Francisco Mandolin Band! I mean can you imagine a whole stage full of people playing Mandolins! Just imagine what Eli would say.”
“Dad, I am trying to do something here.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m texting.”
“Well who are you texting? It’s Memorial Day Weekend. It’s a time to go do things.”
“Dad, I am texting my friends but they are all away.”
“Come on; let’s go down to Crissy Field.”
“Dad, I don’t want to go with you.”
“You say this to your father?”
“Dad, I would rather go with one of my friends.”
“Emmy, come on.”
“Sorry Dad.”
“Emmy, come on I will be youthful. I’ll talk about Selena Gomez.”
“Mother, please spare me, help me put him out of his misery.”
“Emmy, seriously let’s go. They have funnel cakes down there. I’ll get you a funnel cake. You can have two funnel cakes if you want.”
“Dad, I want to go with my friends.”
“Fine, I will get a friend. I’ll call Timmy or Charles.”
“Ha-Ha. Dad, you don’t know any of them.”
“What can I do to get you to go with me? You and me. Dad and daughter.”
“You could get me a friend to go with instead of you.”
“Emmy you’re killing me.”
“Sucks for you Dad.”
“They’ve got these mirror things. They’re putting them on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. They’re going to flash light! You’ll see them from all over!”
“Bet I can see them from here.”
“But it’s historic. It’s the 75th Anniversary! We can walk across the bridge and you can tell your great grandchildren that you were on the Golden Gate Bridge on the 75th Anniversary. With your father. It will bring tears to their eyes.”
“Dad, I really don’t want to go.”
“We can take cameras and take photographs and memorialize the day on Memorial Day. It’s fitting.”
“Sorry Dad.”
“I am going to have to go by myself. Just me, walking around, all by myself, by my lonesome, just me, feeling abandoned by his daughter, all by myself, just me at the Golden Gate Bridge.”
“Dad, that’s not going to work.”
“What’s not going to work?”
“Trying to make me feel guilty.”
“Fine, then why don’t you just come? You and me. We will go down to the bridge and check things out.”
“Sorry Dad, not interested.”
“But Emmy. Don’t you want to do a nice thing for your father?”
“Sorry Dad. It’s the bridge’s birthday, not yours.”
– Jay Duret