Geoffrey

“Marlboro Thermos, Marlboro Thermos – what a sweet, pretty girl.“ ###
“What are you mumbling about, Grandpa?” ###
“Don’t pay attention to him. He’s going off again. Just eat up and finish your dinner.” ###
“Marlboro Thermos, Marlboro Thermos. Those big, dark eyes….” ###
“But, Grandma, who’s Marlboro Thermos? Some old flame?” ###
“Nothing of the kind. Your grandfather’s memory is playing tricks on him. He means Marlo Thomas. She was a pretty actress who starred in an old weekly TV series about a well-meaning nun who was always getting into trouble.” ###
“Sounds a bit like Mother.” ###
“Yes, except your mother never wore a bright red habit. Anyway, your grandfather and I loved the show and were very sad when it was cancelled after only two or three seasons. You just don’t find shows like that on TV any more; it was entertaining in a wholesome and innocent way you just don’t see today. Honestly, people used to behave themselves on TV in those days.” ###
“But why Marlboro Thermos? Why?” ###
“Why’s Grandpa’s so obsessed with this lady?” ###
“Hard to say. When you get old, it’s the old memories you want to hold on to. Then again, maybe he saw red.” ###
“What do you mean, as in a bull seeing danger?” ###
“Sort of. You see, Marlo’s bright red habit, on and off the screen, was a warning sign. But one that meant nothing to her, only to the people around her, only to the people who cared about her.” ###
“You mean even in her private life she wore a bright red habit?” ###
“In a matter of speaking. But that bright red habit was not the garb worn by a nun but a horrible smoking habit that she developed when she left acting to become a social activist. That habit didn’t just get her into trouble; it killed her and it devastated her family.” ###
“Really?” ###
“My Marlboro Thermos!” ###
“It’s okay, Grandpa. It’s okay.” ###
“Your grandfather used to find Marlo’s throaty voice very attractive. But by the time she was in her early thirties, her voice had become permanently hoarse and congested. And by the time she was in her late thirties she could no longer breathe without mechanical assistance. When he was shown pictures of her final days on an iron lung he broke down into tears. It was as though he were mourning his own daughter.” ###
“Marlboro Thermos. Poor Phil.“ ###
“Who’s Phil?” ###
“Phil Donoghue is a famous former talk show host who was Marlo’s husband and is the father of her children. You couldn’t get him to stop talking. Now he won’t say a word to anyone. They were so different and fought all the time, but he adored her. They say the daughter looks a lot like her mother.” ###
“Grandma, why do cigarette companies put their logos on thermoses? Isn’t it a little like saying, Drink this poison?” ###
“Marlboro, my darling daughter, Marlboro!“