Father Gene
It was 1965, 1966...before I met Rhett. It was in Gainesville, FL (Univ. of Florida) and I was busy flunking out of school,going to "Trader Toms",dancing to MoTown,very young Beatles & Stones(was Mick ever that cute?) and drinking too much beer (before other things came to be more popular). Still a "good girl"(Marymount definition-a virgin) but constantly experimenting.
A friend, Anita was not exactly a good girl but active in her church (Episcopal) whereas I was a bitter ex-Catholic, calling myself an atheist but eventually becoming a "jovial agnostic" -Rhett's term, which I always thought was pretty funny. The priest was Gene Ruyle, an agnostic (honest to god!) who said the best church was a bar and the best hymn, "Up on the Roof" by the Drifters. I went to him for counseling because I was pretty messed up and Anita worshipped him. I would go once a week and wail about my childhood & mother. It helped alot. Along with Anita, I also babysat for his three kids. Gene was also incredibly handsome. Is Ruyle an irish name? Because he had those beautiful blue eyes & black hair. But he was so innocent and good, our young lust was completely inappropriate. When I talked of painful incidents, his eyes were so full of sympathy, I instantly loved him.
He was married to Tommie, who was very petite and fun. She was the extrovert to his introvert. I would hang out for free just because I loved this family so much (my search for family life is always a constant). Tommie would put on music and we would all dance, adults and kids doing a demented conga line through the house. Sometimes we would watch "Lost in Space" and Paul the youngest would pretend to be scared and dive between our bodies and pillows for protection.
When I left Gainesville, I left those wonderful people behind. Only a few years later, Anita called me to catch up on things (for Anita, it was usually whos sleeping with who). "Hear what happened to Gene?"...No, I didn't want to hear this. Some people should be frozen in time, to preserve our dreams, you know? And I didn't believe it but checked it out with a more reliable source. It was true. Gene had left Tommie and the kids and moved out to Haight-Ashbury..and you know what happened with people who gravitated there..you lose yourself(I tried to go...only lack of money prevented me).
Were we all insane then? Or is it that opportunity was there for the taking. You could only associate with non-judgmental people. Whatever you did, it was always, "its cool".
When I was in San Francisco years later, pregnant and not feeling all that well, I tried to find out where Gene was but failed. I was kind of glad.
A friend, Anita was not exactly a good girl but active in her church (Episcopal) whereas I was a bitter ex-Catholic, calling myself an atheist but eventually becoming a "jovial agnostic" -Rhett's term, which I always thought was pretty funny. The priest was Gene Ruyle, an agnostic (honest to god!) who said the best church was a bar and the best hymn, "Up on the Roof" by the Drifters. I went to him for counseling because I was pretty messed up and Anita worshipped him. I would go once a week and wail about my childhood & mother. It helped alot. Along with Anita, I also babysat for his three kids. Gene was also incredibly handsome. Is Ruyle an irish name? Because he had those beautiful blue eyes & black hair. But he was so innocent and good, our young lust was completely inappropriate. When I talked of painful incidents, his eyes were so full of sympathy, I instantly loved him.
He was married to Tommie, who was very petite and fun. She was the extrovert to his introvert. I would hang out for free just because I loved this family so much (my search for family life is always a constant). Tommie would put on music and we would all dance, adults and kids doing a demented conga line through the house. Sometimes we would watch "Lost in Space" and Paul the youngest would pretend to be scared and dive between our bodies and pillows for protection.
When I left Gainesville, I left those wonderful people behind. Only a few years later, Anita called me to catch up on things (for Anita, it was usually whos sleeping with who). "Hear what happened to Gene?"...No, I didn't want to hear this. Some people should be frozen in time, to preserve our dreams, you know? And I didn't believe it but checked it out with a more reliable source. It was true. Gene had left Tommie and the kids and moved out to Haight-Ashbury..and you know what happened with people who gravitated there..you lose yourself(I tried to go...only lack of money prevented me).
Were we all insane then? Or is it that opportunity was there for the taking. You could only associate with non-judgmental people. Whatever you did, it was always, "its cool".
When I was in San Francisco years later, pregnant and not feeling all that well, I tried to find out where Gene was but failed. I was kind of glad.
Labels: Gene
posted by The Impoverished Gentlewoman | 2:43 PM
4 Comments:
Your posting -- which came as a complete surprise! -- instantly leaped over the many years since then, to fetch events from fourty-four years ago, getting them back on their feet and bring them right on up into the present, where they could live, breathe, and walk about as once more.
We have a friend in common . . . or at least once did.
May your soul thrive to its very last breath.
G.R.
A quick p.s. ~
Please ignore the typos and mangled syntax found above, in this, my first entry ever to any blog. Its crudeness cannot convey the respect I hold for your inherent kindness and creativity -- both of which, with effort, I shall soon endeavor to emulate, by referring to yours others visiting my own -- the minute its current rebuilding is complete and its blog fully operational.
G.R.
You and anyone are most welcome to reach me anytime through my website at the Authors Guild (the address accompanying my comment). Whoever chooses to will definitely receive a reply. May the journeys of us all bring us to that which truly lives and lasts forever.
As Kierkegaard put it, "We approach with caution that which has been dear to us, when we know the intention is to understand it."
--Gene Ruyle
Dear Impoverished Gentlewoman ~ It was five years ago that I came across your delightful blog, read your postings, and left my respectfully brief comments to the one referring to me personally. I gave my website at the Authors Guild in NY (please see above) though never heard anything back. Was that, perchance, because I never actually moved to Haight-Ashbury? Time has marched on in life's unpredictably wondrous way since and, with its many twists and turns, has brought me to the greenest and most gratifying years of my entire life. Its blessings are truly, as a theology professor of mine used to say repeatedly, "indecently profuse." You'll find me (and Gina and Paul, whom you both know) on Facebook and easily reached there under our names. My main blogs are found at www.sensingtheway.com and www.prairywriter.com, with a new one www.thehumanrealm.com about to open at Yahoo.com. My Google profile is www.google.com/+GeneRuyle. It would be a real treat to hear from you personally. Meanwhile, I will continue making my way through all your postings over the last five years. Most genuinely, -Gene
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