Marjorie Prime

I feel like I have to perform around you.

It's just me.

It's just Walter.

Maybe it's not bad if I feel that way.

I used to entertain a lot.

I remember.

Do you?

Of course.

Marjorie, where are the dishes?

The girl did them, Julie.

She doesn't come until two.

I did them.

You didn't, your arthritis.

I'm having a good day.

Marjorie, we both know what no dishes means.

It means I haven't been eating.

Only a spoonful of peanut butter.

I'm not hungry.

It's their fault, feeding me all those pills.

The pills are their fault or your doctors?

Only a spoonful?

Can I still play the violin?

I'm sure it's all in your head still, but your hands.

I could tell you a story.

You liked that the last time.

I'll have to take your word for it.

I could tell you about the time we saw a movie.

We went to a lot of movies.

But one time we saw "My Best Friend's Wedding."

"My Best Friend's Wedding."

There was a woman, Julia Roberts.

For a while, it was always Julia Roberts.

And she had an agreement with her best friend, her male best

friend, that if they weren't married

by the time they hit a certain age,

they would marry each other.

And she was about to remind him of this agreement

when it turns out he had already fallen

in love with a nice blonde, Cameron Diaz.

So Julia Roberts spends the entire movie

trying to ruin things between her friend

and Cameron Diaz, which isn't very sympathetic behavior

for America's sweetheart.

But in the end, it all works out.

And she has a gay best friend who delivers one liners.

You said you wanted a gay best friend afterwards.

I had a gay best friend.

I had two of them.

I'll remember that now.

Why did you pick that story, "My Best Friend's Wedding?"

That was the night I proposed to you.

Oh Marjorie, the things you forget.

That's OK.

You were trying to tell me and I wouldn't let you.

What if we saw "Casablanca" instead.

Let's say that we saw "Casablanca" in an old movie

theater with velvet seats, and then on the way home

you proposed.

And then by the next time we talk it will be true.

You mean make it up?

Oh, you're very serious.

Oh, you're like them, especially Tess.

Our daughter.

Our daughter, Tess, and her over-solicitous husband.

No... no, no that's not fair.

I like him.

I didn't then.

But now I do.

Do you like me?

Don't be an idiot.

Don't call me an idiot.

Idiot.

Why do you like me if I'm an idiot?

What?

I'll get in trouble.

In trouble?

For talking to you that way, in trouble with Tess.

You don't always understand, do you?

Tell me about the time we got Toni.

I told you that story yesterday.

I like that story.

There was once a couple, a very fine, young couple.

And he had a good strong jaw.

He was a little too pleased with himself.

He had a good strong jaw, and he was a little too

pleased with himself.

And she was the most beautiful woman in town.

It wasn't a very big town, but she was the queen of it.

It sounds like a fairy tale when you tell it.

It is a fairy tale.

That's not very nice.

- I don't mean that... - I thought that...

it never happened.

You were supposed to provide comfort.

I meant that that's the way it happened, like a fairy tale.

It was?

Now this couple was feeling a bit lonely,

because they didn't have any children yet.

So one day they decided it was time to get a dog.

They took the bus down to the city pound.

And there was a little black dog there asleep,

its tummy going up and down like a little sleeping shadow.

And so they named it Toni.

Toni.

Toni with an I.

With an I.

Short for Antoinette.

She had a French name because she was a French poodle.

But not the fussy kind that look like hedges.

No, this was a poodle for fetching sticks

and running on the beach.

So they took her home on the bus.

She was very well behaved.

And they loved her, and she loved

them back for a long time.

And then, like everything else, she died.

Would you like me to keep going?

There's more after she died?

Yes.

Because the couple, soon after, had a child.

Tess.

Which is a variation on Tessa, which is Greek for "gatherer."

Oh, don't show off.

So when Tess was three years old, they went to the pound.

Oh, yes.

The same pound.

They had an old Subaru by this point,

so they didn't have to take the bus.

And of course, they let young Tess pick out the new dog.

There were more dogs there.

A Cocker Spaniel, a noble gray pointer,

and a very attractive mutt.

But the amazing thing, was Tess picked

the poodle, the little black sleeping shadow.

That was the one she liked the best.

And so we named it Toni Two.

Toni Two.

But that was soon shortened to just Toni.

And of course, it wasn't exactly Toni.

But the longer they had her, the less

it mattered which Toni it was that ran along the beach,

and which Toni it was the dug up all the bulbs in the garden.

The more time that passed, the more she became

the same dog in their memories.

Who told you all that?

You did.

I talk that much?

Well, you and Jon.

You have your good days when you remember.

Another spoonful?

It was the second Toni who loved the beach.

Though it's a shame we didn't have her longer.

Even though she always had sand in her hair.

Fur?

No, hair like a human sounds right.

I'll remember that now.

Something's a little off with the nose.

I'm sorry.

Or maybe it's my memory and you're right.

Well, you're a good Walter either way.

Thank you.

Stay with me while?

I don't want to get you in trouble.

You learn like that.

I told you.

What would you like to talk about now?

We don't have to talk, we can just sit.

Sometimes I get so tired.

I'll be right here, Marjorie, whenever you need.

I have all the time in the world.

I still don't like it.

What?

The Prime.

Ah.

Well, at this stage...

Who said it?

Companionship is the most important thing.

You said it.

It's better than watching television.

As if she's an infant that needs to be pacified.

She's 85.

She wakes up, she doesn't know where she is.

And by the way, what's wrong with being pacified?

She's sleeping.

Those new pills seemed to knock her out.

Peanut butter.

Oh, small miracles.

She's finally coming to my campaign.

Or she's listening to Walter Prime.

They say it's like a parrot that way.

Have a spoonful, have a spoonful.

Did you know that parrots live forever?

I have a student who's got her dad's parent after he died.

And she says even now 20 years later, it

still says things in his voice.

Like what?

Mostly just, hey there, partner.

Words of wisdom.

Well, she says it's not exactly his voice,

but she can definitely tell that it's him.