My imaginary daughter Amy, 6, spent a long weekend with her mother, Carolyn and her boyfriend Fahd, visiting with Carolyn's relatives in Massachusetts. As you can see by the above photo, Amy returned as a Goth. Yes, I know she's big for six. I was especially reminded when I insisted on taking temporary custody of her new tee shirt, a gift from her Aunt Crystal.
This unfortunate episode seems to have been prompted by Carolyn's sister Crystal's new look, as seen below. I haven't seen Crystal for over ten years, not quite long enough to create a comfortable distance. Amy tells me, "Aunt Crystal's apartment looks like those places on 'Clean House' on Style Network. Before."
Now, I'm all for Amy's sense of self-expression, but my encouragement runs into some paternal hesitancy at fingerless gloves, black nail polish and cringeworthy nose jewelry. I was thankful, at least, that her tattoo was temporary, like her mother's civility. Amy modified her look with this cheery tee shirt so we could attend her school's father/imaginary daughter conference.
I drove Amy back to her mother's, where we found Carolyn outside, waiting, barefooted, for what she said was a "Domino's delivery." As you can see by her expression, she was delighted to see me. Nearly as delighted as her second toe was with its ring.
It was a rough flight back for Carolyn. Her boyfriend, Fahd, was bounced off the plane when he didn't fit in his seat. Amy took this pic with her Hello Kitty iPhone.
This apparently ended with some type of scuffle in which a flight attendant, Geraldo, was not just hurt, but offended.
Amy said, "Geraldo reminded me of you, Ricky. Only cuter. And younger."
