"On more than one occasion, I have watched my mother regale the room with a truly awful story involving a family cat and its botched pregnancy. I won't belabor the details-trust me, you don't want to hear them—but, basically, when I was young, a cat we owned that had been previously spayed somehow became fecund with a litter of kittens. This required veterinary intervention, since the"
"She survived the emergency C-section, but, one by one, the way-too-premature babies died. It is a hilariously macabre tale, with no real punch line, irony, or lessons to be derived. But nevertheless, in the early stages of dating the woman who would become my wife, I watched my mom slowly unfurl this saga to her while we all sat around the fireplace. I could barely believe what"
"The dead kittens are just one of many tragedies my mom is fond of recalling. There was, of course, the roofer who lost his family in Ukraine, or the various ancillary neighbors who are suffering from inoperable cancers, or the people on the nightly news who tumbled off the cliffs in San Diego to their untimely death. After I moved away from home in 2010"
A son describes a pattern of his mother telling gruesome, morbid stories, beginning with a spayed cat that unexpectedly gave birth to premature kittens that died despite an emergency C-section. The mother also relays strangers' tragedies, including a roofer who lost his family in Ukraine, neighbors with inoperable cancers, and people falling off cliffs in San Diego. After the son moved away in 2010, phone calls became dominated by these accounts of suffering. The son reacts with disbelief, cringe, and a wish to escape the images. The son worries that his mother perceives destruction everywhere and even imagines a Final Destination–like existence, and he seeks perspective by talking with others navigating new phases of life with their parents.
Read at Slate Magazine
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