Family Affair

Oh, the letter for you, Mrs. Cissy.

Ah, thank you.

Oh, I don't know what happened to the glue, kids.

Can't you stick them together with paperclips?

No, it wouldn't be neat.

And homework ought to be neat.

Then they don't notice the mistake so much.

The mail, Mr. Davis.

One for you, Buffy.

Thank you, Mr. French.

And two for you, Jody.

Thank you, Mr. French.

Mr. Davis, we can't find the glue, you know, we're buffing Jody.

Yes, sir.

I always get the ones marked resident, and I'm occupant.

Well, I believe we have some glue in the kitchen, so excuse me.

Uncle Bill?

Mm-hmm?

What does Aunt Fran mean in this letter?

What about?

Well, she wrote that she's looking forward to seeing us in Terre Haute next week.

What does that mean?

Oh, that, um... Me too?

And me?

She says all three of us.

Uncle Bill, are you sending us back to Terre Haute?

Are you, Uncle Bill?

Well, I got a letter from your Aunt Fran last week, and

she's having some kind of a big family reunion back there.

What's a reunion?

Well, that's when all the relatives get together, you know, uncles and aunts and cousins and everybody.

Aunt Fran is just talking about a family reunion.

Yep.

Well, it's like we're going to a big party.

A party?

Well, that's different.

Are you invited too, Uncle Bill?

Well, if anybody goes, we all go.

Oh, boy.

That sounds like fun.

We'd love to go to Terre Haute for a family reunion, wouldn't we?

Sure, we love parties, and we'd be awful good.

Honest.

Well, kids, I thought about this a lot, and it's taken you a long time to get

over, some pretty painful memories, so I don't think it's a good idea to get that all stirred up again, see?

We wouldn't mind painful what you said, Uncle Bill.

You were with us.

Please, Uncle Bill, it'd be such fun.

I could go back to my old school.

And we could see where we used to live in the olden days.

I remember the old park that has the biggest slide in the whole world.

It's scary to climb up so high.

Are you sure?

Of course.

Gosh, a family reunion with relatives coming from all over the place.

I wouldn't want to miss it.

Me neither.

Me neither.

Okay, maybe I was wrong.

I'll wire Aunt Fran until we're coming.

Do you remember this house, Buffy?

No, Aunt Fran and Uncle Harold moved from the one where I lived with them.

Oh, I'm glad of that.

I wouldn't want to come back to the one where you stayed and we never saw each other.

Hey, hey, now look.

We're not going to think of that as a family reunion.

We're not going to think of those things.

We're here for a family reunion, and that means we're going to have fun, right?

Right.

Mr.

Bill, it's a nice house.

Not as nice as our apartment, but it's a real nice place to visit.

Okay, let's go, kids.

Hi.

How are you?

How are you, Bill?

How are you, Frank?

Quite well, thank you.

Good, good.

Hi.

Gee, it's nice to see Terre Haute again.

You know, as we drove through your town in the taxi, I recognized all the old buildings.

Well, come in.

We have a lot to talk about.

Busy, your young lady, and the twins, they have sprung up overnight.

Well, it's been almost a year, Frank.

I don't believe it.

Couldn't have been a year, could it, Harold?

Sharon's about right.

She's about a year.

Oh, just wait until the rest of the family gets here and see

how they've turned out, the New York branch of our family.

Oh, if you'll excuse me, sir, madam, I'll begin to unpack.

Okay, you kids go on up and help Mr. French.

Oh, Uncle Bill, it's almost 3 O'clock.

Couldn't I get to my old high school before they dismiss?

And couldn't we take Mr. French to see the old gang at our school?

We don't know how to unpack anyway.

Okay, sure.

Ah, thank your doll.

I'll see you all later.

All right, bye.

Bye-bye.

Tommy, remember him?

Yeah.

Bill, I'm sorry that they look so well adjusted.

I admit it.

I still have some forlorn hopes of winning them back.

Well, to tell you the truth, Fran, at first I didn't know what I was going to do with those three kids.

But now I didn't know what to do without them.

Hey.

Oh, Uncle Bill.

It was great.

Just plain, ordinary, wonderful.

Did you see a lot of your old friends?

Oh, did I?

Aunt Fran, do you remember Elsie McDonald?

How her mother wouldn't let her wear lipstick?

Well, now she's using mascara.

Imagine.

Didn't you see any boys?

Oh, yes.

Harvey Phillips.

He's going to pick me up in an hour.

Little Harvey Phillips.

Little?

Aunt Fran, he is now captain and fullback of the football team.

Oh, well, I guess I haven't seen him for a few years.

Boy, Terre Haute sure is neat.

We showed Mr. French our old kindergarten, and he met the old gang.

Yeah, and the teacher gave us to eat a cookie.

You know, sir, I find it a matter of note that in New York or Terre Haute,

school cookies always seem to be oatmeal.

And we talked to the new teacher.

She's pretty.

She sure is.

They didn't have teachers like that when we were in kindergarten.

And the kids, they're so little.

Uncle Bill, were we that little when we were in kindergarten?

Yeah, I think so.

There's a whole big applesauce cake in the kitchen and a nice pitcher of cold milk.

Cissy, will you show them?

I'd be glad to.

Oh, boy!

Applesauce cake!

Well, from now, sir, I will unpack.

You know, I was a little bit...

a little bit afraid that coming back here might kind of stir up some bad memories

for them, but they don't seem to have a care in the world.

Oh, homecoming can be a marvelous experience, even at their age.

Oh, sure.

A few days with some old friends can be a lot of fun.

I kind of get a kick out of it myself.

Bill, does it have to be only for a few days?

This is where they belong, here where they have roots, stability.

Fran, don't start that.

I can't.

I know I gave up any right to Buffy.

Just forget about what it would mean to me.

Just, just think about the welfare of the children.

Watch them for the next few days, and then if you agree that they would be happier here with me...

Okay, I'll watch them.

I remember.

You know, this used to be one of my very favorite places.

Sometimes when things were bad, I didn't know what to do.

I used to walk here, and I'd sit all by myself.

I still come here sometimes.

You don't see any kids around anymore.

Everybody's got a car, and nobody walks anyplace.

I guess there's been a lot of changes in Terre Haute since I lived here.

Well, everybody changes.

I remember you used to be all legs and teeth, and now look at you.

You're a New York sophisticated woman.

Oh, I haven't changed.

Not really.

Not the real me.

Well, then maybe you wouldn't mind going out with a small-town boy.

Of course not.

Well, is this it?

Uh-huh.

It was ten times that big.

It was the biggest slide in the whole world.

I consider it a quite respectable slide.

Fine.

It's so little, Mr. French.

Yes, Jody?

If you leave a slide out in the rain, can it shrink?

Well, I hardly think so.

Then what happened?

Well, Jody, it's not that the slide has become smaller.

It's simply that, well, you've grown larger.

That's what happens when we grow up.

Boy, I used to be afraid sliding down this little thing.

Watch me, Jody.

It was Cissy.

You know, Cissy, the junior prom is a week from Saturday.

Are you still going to be here?

Oh, I don't think so.

There's a big family dinner party this Saturday night, all the relatives.

And then Sunday we have to go back home to New York.