coffee for the apocalypse

I couldn’t make a post about Rue McClanahan’s book and not use the classic Golden Girls line.

This book is hilarious. It was even more hilarious to hear Rue read it out loud at Book People in Austin, Tx. I went with my mother, she introduced me to the Golden Girls when I was little, and we wouldn’t have missed getting to meet “Blanche”. I had to bring my infant son along as well because I didn’t have anyone to watch him. He was always a really good baby, he just decided to be particularly chatty that afternoon.

Rue was reading along with perfect pauses for laughter and dramatic effect. My son was doing his best to fill those pauses for her. I got up to walk him away from the reading area so he wouldn’t break up the impact of her inflections and she said something along the lines of “Everyone’s a critic.”

There were chuckles and the presentation went on. As a young mother (19 at that point) I was supremely embarrassed and felt bad that he had made noise while she was trying to entertain. I hid among the shelves and peeked out while holding him and letting him look around. I only came out when she was done and people began lining up to greet her.

When Mom, the baby, and I approached she said he was cute and no problem at all. She was very kind and had a great sense of humor. Also, what a hottie, am I right?

We chatted and she signed our books. Once we were done she cooed at my little boy one more time and told us bye. This was back in the day when we didn’t have phones that would take pictures but just having this book that I could tell she was overjoyed to have shared with everyone is great.

Nowadays Mom and I aren’t nearly as close as we used to be though we still talk and hang out on occasion. I was thankful that she was with me that day. We had watched the Golden Girls over and over when it would come on Nick at Night. Now that I have it on demand, I’ve shared it with my daughter. She doesn’t get half of the jokes (she just turned 8) but we snuggle together and watch it anyway. Some day she will get the jokes and perhaps even share it with her daughter.

If you want to grab a copy of Rue’s book for your collection follow the link below and it helps us both. The paperback cover is different but the hardcover version and kindle edition are available as well.