Walter

when Josh discovered Chippy the Smiling Chip (see post below) ...

It automatically brought back memories of Walter. Walter was a piece of uncooked ziti that cunningly escaped a boiling pot of water...one magical 90's night back in good ol' Hamden, Connecticut. I was enjoying a pleasant night with my good ol' high school chums, Liz and Tracy.

Walter slipped out of our grasp and was the sole ziti to survive being cooked, parmed and digested. When we first spotted him on the counter, we immediately recognized his bravery and his 'Krafty' ways (a modern day Robin Hood, if you will). He was given the name Walter. He sat with us at dinner and laughed as we munched on his lesser friends. He even jumped into the steaming bowl of pasta at one point to see if we would notice or eat him by mistake. Of course we saw him...and plucked him right out! Silly Walter!

Then it was time for a special treat. We brought Walter with us to the local Multiplex for his very first motion picture experience. Walter loved Titanic. He gasped at the bold costume choices and breathtaking special effects. And wept as Rose and Jack clung to each other in their final moments of hope and desperation.

After the film, we were walking through the parking lot...talking about the movie, laughing about our wonderful evening...how exciting this had all been for our little ziti...WHEN SUDDENLY, Tracy in a moment of maniacal glee grabbed Walter from my hand, threw him to the ground and stomped on him...smashing his little ziti body into tiny fragments. It was truly horrific.

Liz and I will never understand what came over Tracy -- jealousy, perhaps? or some kind of childhood pasta trauma suddenly resurfaced? -- Whatever it was...all we could do was scream. Pick up his remains and walk to the car in silence. We have never forgiven Tracy to this day.

Chippy brought this all back...and I e-mailed Liz about Chippy and she responded with the following (an appropriate memorium -- possibly 10 years too late):

"i'm sure chippy is a fine guy in his own right, but no one can ever compare to walter... chippy seems a little more obvious, his humor more bawdy, his interests more pedestrian. walter was nuanced and subtle and cultured... and as we tragically witnessed, a martyr for ziti trying to make it in a human's world everywhere."

We will always remember you, Walter. And this late afternoon's blog entry is dedicated to your memory. At least he will always have Titanic....and it is fitting that the last song he ever heard was Celine Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On" as the credits rolled and his first film and his life came to an end...Our hearts go on for you, Walter...and on...and on...