They are feeling like they have failied with one of their sons who is not going to church anymore, and so Mollie has a plan to get some of the grandkids together to try to have a positive influence on one in particular. Herb is thinking about whether they have left a good legacy to their children. They bicker a bit and forget things… but they are a cute old couple. This is also a scene from the larger production called, “The Love Festival.”2 actors (one male, one female,) About 9 minutes.
(An elderly couple enter with canes and approach two rocking chairs)MOLLIE: Herb? Herb, are you coming?
HERB: I’m comin’ Mollie, hold your shoes on…hold your shoes on.
MOLLIE: You’re the slowest thing…
HERB: Help me into my chair, Mama. (she helps him)
MOLLIE: Get mine going, would you? (he starts the chair to rocking
and she gyrates with the chair and finally sits) weeeeee! Oh.. my
hearts just a racin’.
HERB: Boy, Mama, you keep me young! You got my blood a pumpin’
again!
MOLLIE: Oh, you silly old man! And stop callin’ me Mama, the
children have all been gone for years, and you still insist on
callin’ me Mama.
HERB: Why, I thought you liked being called Mama?
MOLLIE: Herb, I’ve told you time and again that I thought it was
cute while the kids were all small, but I would prefer you to call
me Mollie from now on… or one of those other pet names you have
for me.
HERB: This is the first I’ve heard of it.
MOLLIE: Herbert Philip Mackenzie What am I going to do with you?
HERB: (after a pause) What are ya -thinkin?
MOLLIE: I was thinkin’ about how you never listen to anything that
I tell you, and then I have to tell you all over again as if it
were the first time.
HERB: Wanna know what I was thinkin about? (Having not heard a word
of what she said) I was sittin’ here thinkin’ about Philip.
MOLLIE: Philip?
HERB: Uh-huh, did you see him the other night? When he was a
sittin’ up there on the couch as cute as he could be just a
listenin’ to what was being said as if he understood every word.
MOLLIE: Philip? As cute as he could be?! Our Philip?
HERB: Did I say Philip? Oh for Pete’s sake, I didn’t mean Philip,
what in the samhill made me say that? Phil’s boy, you know, what’s
his name?
MOLLIE: You’re talkin’ about Trent.
HERB: Trent, that’s it. I can never remember a name like that. What
kind of a name is that to give a boy, anyway?
MOLLIE: Well, I certainly wouldn’t name a girl, Trent.
HERB: I wouldn’t name any poor child, Trent.
MOLLIE: And you didn’t, you made us stick to regular names like
Philip, and James and Joseph.
HERB: Good names, all of them.
MOLLIE: Well, you picked ‘em.
HERB: What do you mean, I picked them? We did it together.
MOLLIE: Herb, you didn’t like any name that I picked out, so we
ended up going with your ideas completely.
HERB: I don’t remember that at all.
MOLLIE: That’s because you only remember what you want to remember.
HERB: Well, I certainly remember that it was you who wanted the
name Caroline because you had a relative with that name, and she
was your favorite aunt or something.
MOLLIE: Land sakes, Herb, have you gone off your rocker? I guess
I’ll have to send you to the Funny Farm. You’re the one who had the
Aunt Caroline, not me. My favorite aunt was Agnes!
HERB: Boy, I’m sure glad we didn’t use that one! Can you imagine a
daughter named Agnes?
MOLLIE: You silly old man, you would have loved all your kids just
as much no matter what names they had. And you love all the grand
kids, too. I do think you probably favor some over the others, but
I suppose that is normal and can’t be helped.
HERB: Well, I sure do like Scotty; he has always been special to
me.
MOLLIE: Doesn’t he go by Scott, now?
HERB: Oh, he still let’s me call him, Scotty… but I suspect I’m
the only one.
MOLLIE: What were you and he talking about the other night?
HERB: Oh, he was telling me all about his CD’s. He asked me if I
wanted to listen to one of them. I told him that I was very fond of
him, and I wanted to keep it that way. So, I declined his offer.
Then he told me that it was Christian music, and that I might like
it. So, I had him just read me the words. This one song was all
about a man who wanted to leave a legacy to his kids…
MOLLIE: A legacy? You mean like a big family? Cuz we sure got that.
I mean what do you call 6 children and 13 grandchildren?
HERB: An army. No, that’s not what I was talking about. A legacy is
what you leave with them, and I don’t mean money. It’s what we
believe in, and all the things that we are and stand for. You know,
that was passed down to the children. So I was wondering if I have
left a good legacy to the kids and to their kids.
MOLLIE: You got all this from a CD?
HERB: And I didn’t even listen to it. I decided that I really liked
it, and told Scotty that I had better quit while I was still on his
side. The poetry was so nice, and I figured it would be that rock
stuff and I would end up hating it.
MOLLIE: Poor Scotty, he must think that his grandparents are a
couple of real fuddy-duddies.
HERB: Naw, he told me that I was a lot more “with it” than his
“weird” parents.
MOLLIE: You mean there is hope for us after all?
HERB: I guess so. But you know, I wonder sometimes just how much
hope there is in this world for those poor kids. Have we done our
best in raisin up our children?
MOLLIE: Well, if we haven’t, it’s a little late to do anything about
that now, unless, somehow, we can get through to the grandchildren.
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