A puffy face, pioneer rigatoni and you've come a long way, Baby: Jennifer Grey in her own (sometimes dirty) words

I just got a haircut (which was long overdue) and I'm feeling downright civilized again.  I can't say I'm too happy with my puffy cheeks here, they are pretty sore and swollen right now.  But I suppose things could be worse.

This past Saturday was a mostly good day long covid wise, until sunset when the inflammation in my temples and cheeks sprang into action.  I awoke Sunday morning feeling better, only to have those same symptoms returning at noon and hanging around until 7pm before mysteriously vanishing.

Long covid is a strange and persistent animal, but I'm convinced I'm heading in the right direction.

Speaking of long covid, shortly after I was diagnosed in March 2024, I was filled with regret:  "If only I hadn't asked Typhoid Susie for that ride to Giant Eagle, I wouldn't have gotten infected..." 

I began watching videos on YouTube of people expressing regret for various things (like getting bad tattoos or worse, getting Lasik) to see how they cope, and that's when I saw an interview with actress Jennifer Grey, talking about her infamous nose job.  She said it changed her looks so much, Hollywood dropped her like a hot potato.  She said it was probably one of the worst decisions she'd made in her life.

The interview was for her book Out Of The Corner.  You know where that title came from, Patrick Swayze telling her father "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" in Dirty Dancing.

I put my name on the waitlist for the e-book at Carnegie Library, but after waiting two years, went on Barnes and Noble last week and bought my own copy for $7.99.

She doesn't waste any time getting down to the business at hand.  There's a 20 page prologue before Chapter One, where she discusses the surprise success of Dirty Dancing in 1987.  Why wasn't she being offered more acting roles?

She was convinced to get a minor nose job which made it fuller but less long (that's it on her book's cover).  She absolutely loved it and was soon offered a movie role right away.  But one year after that, cartilage began to grow on the tip of her nose.

When she returned to the same surgeon in 1990 to have it corrected, he went too far and she came out with a different face.

Filled with panic and despair, she was shocked to discover no one recognized her.  Invited to the Golden Globes, she approached other celebrities and was treated like a stranger.  Her plastic surgeon even admitted he'd never seen such a radical change in someone's features.

End of prologue.  The book is 310 pages long and I'm currently at the halfway point.  But for the first 140 pages it's only about her privileged upbringing, growing up with a celebrity father (Joel Grey) and living in big apartments in New York City or on the West Coast, in Malibu.  I'm not a prude by any means, but boy did she have a wild youth, especially her teenage years!  Everything is sex, cigarettes, booze, sex, "blow" (cocaine and she stresses she only snorted the primo stuff), more sex, Studio 54 while living with her fortysomething hairdresser at age 17 and getting every STD in the book.  

I never thought I'd say this, but frankly I'm sexed out.  Where's the acting career, the girl I fell in love with in Dirty Dancing?  Okay, I just started Chapter 21 where it's now 1984 and she lands her first acting gigs in The Cotton Club and Red Dawn.  Finally!  

I didn't know Jennifer was 18 months older than me, she just turned 66 in March.  Wow.  I can still remember my sister Shawn coming to visit me in 1987 and telling me we were going to see this movie Dirty Dancing.  Last night I watched it (probably for the first time in 30+ years) on Peacock and was surprised how charming it still was. 

Finally, I thought I'd show you what I had for dinner Monday.  A couple weeks ago I decided to stop watching The Pioneer Woman's cooking show, but not before making her homemade pasta sauce and loving it.  She only uses crushed tomatoes (which I had a hard time finding, but got 2 generic cans), adding tomato paste, brown sugar, olive oil, garlic, peppers, basil & ground beef.  I cooked it for 2 hours and filled 4 freezer bags of the stuff, and added one of them to a pot of cooked rigatoni.

Throw in a garlic breadstick, some lettuce with some Bleu cheese dressing... yep. 😋

A forgotten letter from Mom, and a thanks to Dad

When I was looking through my shoebox of old photos for my family's years at Reeseman's Park, I came across this thank you note from my mom that made me tear up a little.  I have no memory of it, but I'm very glad I held onto it.

My mom always had the nicest stationery (and a real love for nature and hummingbirds) and the most beautiful handwriting.  In this letter, she was thanking me for my contribution to Dad's headstone, and her Mother's Day gifts.

There's no date on the note, but when she congratulated me for passing my driver's exam, I knew when this was written.  I wasn't able to get my driver's license at 16 like most kids, because I was diagnosed with epilepsy a couple years prior.  In the state of Pennsylvania, you had to be documented seizure free for a certain amount of time (2 or 3 years, I can't remember) before you could drive.

My final seizure was in Nov 1989, when I was 28 years old.  By the time I was eligible to get my license I was in my early thirties and had learned to get by in life without the need for a car.  But when Dad passed in February 2001, I told my mom at his funeral that as soon as I got back to the city I was going to sign up for driving lessons and have a car by that summer.

I kept my word and got my license (and a car) 4 months before my 40th birthday.  I was able to start driving back home on a regular basis, and got to spend a lot of weekends with Mom. 

Sad to say, but it was Dad's passing which motivated me to learn so Mom wouldn't be so alone.  Here is Dad's headstone (with his mother, my Grandma Morris directly behind his) in our family's cemetery.  My mom's headstone is now besides Dad.

Love you, Mom & Dad.

The Reesemans Years: A small look back for posterity's sake

In the spring of 1985, my oldest brother Duke was living in Washington DC and my sister Shawn & I were working and living in a small house in town, back home in Waynesburg Pa.

There were still 3 kids at home—our brother Steve, and two sisters Donda-Lin & Courtney.

One day, Mom called Shawn & me with some exciting news; they were moving out of the old farmhouse and into a brand new mobile home.  What!   

My sister Shawn on the front porch at Reeseman’s, Aug 1995

After years of scrimping and saving on Mom’s part, they bought a brand new mobile home with a room sized ‘tip-out’ giving them a double-sized living room.  

They managed to secure a corner spot on the perimeter of Reeseman’s, a large mobile home park halfway between the farmhouse and our high school in Jefferson Pa.  Dad installed a porch and shed on their lot, and Mom planted flowers everywhere.  My mom was very, very happy.  Every time I made plans for a visit, Mom would say "Doug, bring your laundry home!  We have city water now, we've got all the water you need!"  

(Growing up with a shallow well, we never seemed to have water.  I never brought my laundry to their new place, but it was funny and generous of her.)

Just months after moving there, my brother Steve graduated high school, married and moved out.  One year later in 1986, our sister Donda-Lin did the same.  Shawn moved back in with them.  

They lived there from 1985 - 1999, before Dad talked Mom into moving to a house in the country again.  But I know my mom was very happy there with her compact place and city water, and I was surprised she let it go.

I have hundreds of family photos, but only a dozen of the Reeseman years.  I wanted to share them here as they are so few and I miss those times with my family so much.  We got together at Reesemans often for holidays and family things, but shortly after they moved from there, Dad died and then Mom a couple years after that.  All of the kids went their separate ways.   

So if you'll indulge me... here's the few photos I have from those years at Reesemans.

My brother-in-law Bobby, me in the back and my pretty sister Donda-Lin at Christmas, in the 1990s.

Bobby & Donda-Lin’s baby Drew looks about a year old here, I’m guessing this is sometime in 1994.  Drew and Dad were very close.

Dad is giving Drew a piano lesson, 1995.  I just love this photo, Drew was curious & sweet as can be.

Here’s myself on the left, my brother Duke, our brother Steve with his sons Stevie and Eddie, and Dad.  This is the only photo I have of the Morris men together.

My brother Steve from behind, Dad, a 3 year old Drew and our Grandma Morris, Christmas 1996.  Where did the time go?

My (always photogenic) sister Donda-Lin enjoying our Mom's new "art" couch.  That thing was super comfy, I miss it still.

Here's my youngest sister Courtney in her acid washed jeans, outside the front door

Grandma Morris and me, my birthday, Halloween 1996.

Here's Mom & Dad's dog Frankie (who Mom insisted was our brother).  He was a sweet little guy, and after Dad & Mom's untimely passing was adopted by my sister Donda-Lin and her family, where he lived a long time.

I wasn't going to share this one, but oh well--home for Christmas, in my Superman sleep-clothes.  (Mom supplied me with that red smock for my cape.)

And finally, I wanted to share this one with a funny story.  The night before Thanksgiving 1993, I came home for the holiday weekend and saw no bags of food or such on the kitchen bar.  I asked "Where's the stuff for tomorrow?" and Mom said Donda-Lin wanted to prepare the entire dinner, and would be arriving with everything.  

I said "But she's 10 months pregnant!" and Mom said she couldn't talk her out of it.  Sure enough, Donda's car pulls up outside and she comes clanging into Mom's house, giant with a baby and carrying all these pots and pans.  I said "Donda what the hell!" and she started laughing and yelled at Mom that I was going to make her water break.

Sure enough, an hour or so later--her water broke.  Shawn, Mom & Donda-Lin rushed to the hospital and Donda gave birth to her daughter Drew Thanksgiving morning.

The End