Fandango’s Provocative Question #192
Let’s start by pointing out that Garry was sort of a little famous when we got married as well as for a lot of years before we got married and at least at Hannaford’s grocery in downtown Uxbridge, is still famous.
How did I feel about it? I (mostly) enjoyed it. We got great seating in restaurants — and that was when we actually (with two full incomes) could afford them. We got cool invitations to parties we occasionally enjoyed but usually by the time we got there, were sorry we did all that driving for no good reason.
If Garry was officiating I got to meet interesting people — the interesting (and usually ignored) wives of the more special guests. My rank was similar: wife to person known for being on television. Basically, no one, except the other (ignored) wives found me interesting. Garry like to “work the room,” going from famous person to other famous person. This was most satisfying when we were holding the party rather than merely attending one.
Garry like the attention — to a point. He didn’t like attempts to bribe him and he always returned every penny of it. We stopped going to some restaurants because they wouldn’t let him pay. First, it was a favor, but after a while, it felt like a bribe so we elsewhere. Too bad. It was a great restaurant.
He didn’t like being interrupted for autographs in the middle of dinner. Couldn’t they wait until we made it to dessert? Over all, since Garry wasn’t super-famous — not Hollywood-style famous. It was not a crazy sort of famous and it felt normal.
So now, except for some strange interludes at Hannaford, we live life in the slow lane. I like the slow lane. It suits us. When you get finished being famous or sort of famous, it’s good to slow down and just breathe.
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Categories: #FPQ, #News, #Photography, Anecdote, Provocative Questions, Television
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I think it’s great that you were able to talk to the other wives who were probably feeling left out of things. I bet many of them were interesting in their own right but were expected to take a back seat?
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They WERE interesting. They had careers of their own. Not “public” and not the sort of thing for which you get awards and plaques, but they were doctors and audiologists and writers and parents. They were involved in the real world. We all knew we’d go to events and be ignored, but the “wives of the stars” formed our own little group. Not as stellar, but not dull, either.
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I’m sure those other wives of the famous were well worth talking to as well.
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They were. I learned a lot from them. I was good at asking questions. Over all, they had a wider range of interests than their more adulated husbands.
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I think it would often be a challenge and glad you have eased into a slow lane
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It wasn’t a big challenge. After a few years, I stopped attending a lot of events. I was pretty sure no one would miss me. Garry disagreed, but he was on the other side of the table and didn’t really get it. Over the years, I noticed fewer and fewer wives bothered to attend events. Now, it’s hard to even get ANYONE to attend.
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I can certainly understand that
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