I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: MICHIE MEE & TONYA P.-“Made It” (2018).

I read that Michie Mee is the most famous, pioneering rapper in Canada.  And yet, if you look at her discography she has only released two albums in thirty years (!)

Her first one came out in 1991.  Her second in 2000.  But she is still active and seems to release an occasional single and collaboration.  She has also been in a lot of TV and films.

This single is kind of odd because they sing about having made it, but it’s been over twenty-five years since she made it.  It’s a simple, nice, catchy song, quite different than some of her more explicit harsher singles.

The more I learn about Michie Mee, the more fascinated I am by her and wonder what she has been up to.

[READ: April 2019] “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

I first read this story in the October 21, 2013 issue of the New Yorker (when they republished it).

This is a straightforward but fairly complex story, with a lot of emotional heft.  A married couple, Grant and Fiona, have been together for a long time.  Fiona had always written notes to herself, but Grant sensed recently that the notes were becoming somewhat alarming.  Instead of books to read or appointments to keep, she was writing “cutlery” on the kitchen drawers. Then she started forgetting normal things–like how to drive home or that something which she thought had happened last year had actually happened 12 years ago. Not major problems, but causes for concern.

And so, Fiona was sent, at first temporarily, to Meadowlake.  Grant was told not to show up for the first month–they found that patients settled in better if they were not reminded of their house and old life.  After a month of wondering about her and thinking about her, Grant goes to Meadowlake, excited to see Fiona.  But when he arrives she is not in her room–their touching reunion scene will not be enacted as he pictured.  And the nurse seems rather impatient with him when he asks where she is.

It turns out that she was in the common room.  The nurse told him to say hello and try no to startle her.  And then he saw her, watching men play cards.  He resisted the urge to wrap her in a hug, especially when she politely said hello to him and asked if he wanted tea (something he never drank). Then she introduced him to Aubrey, the man sitting next to her.  And then she starts talking about things, things that he either knows already, or which she’s getting wrong.  Aubrey seems to be getting agitated that she is talking to Grant.

Finally Grant asks the nurse if Fiona knows who he is.  The nurse admits that she might not.  Not today anyway.   So Grant is faced with the decision–how do you care for the woman you love when she doesn’t know who you are.  Every time he shows up, she is sitting with Aubrey.  So he stopped going as often, but made sure he went at least twice a week.

There is a lot of story about Grant’s past–the things he thinks about when waiting to go see Fiona again.  These show that Grant was no angel himself.  But I’m focusing on the more pressing concerns of the story.  How do you deal with a loved one when she doesn’t remember you?

Munro could have left it at that, a compelling but devastating story.  But then things change.

Aubrey’s wife decided to remove him from the home.  When Grant showed up the next time, Fiona was inconsolable.  She still didn’t remember Grant, but she remembered that Aubrey wasn’t there anymore.  Which must have been devastating for Grant.  Then Grant decides to go the extra step to try to talk to Aubrey’s wife.

This gives the story an entirely unexpected third act, in which Grant tries to determine what is an acceptable thing to do for your wife.  But it also turns into a question of bonding with another person in the same situation.  And perhaps more.

The story left me with many uncomfortable questions.  And it was so well written.