To Night Owl From Dogfish
Page 19
The way no one can tell you what is or isn’t a family. Well, they can tell you, but you don’t have to listen and you shouldn’t listen. You need to only listen to your heart.
The way worrying is sometimes about the wrong thing.
The way some people are bold + some people are more scared, but once in a while the parts SWITCH.
The way you can discover love when you don’t expect it—a love for a person, or even for a new job, like suddenly becoming an actress, when you never did anything like that before.
The way people who are really different from each other can come together and their lives can merge, even if once in a while they get on each other’s nerves, which is just a human thing.
The way some people are meant to be together.
The way some people aren’t meant to be together.
At first, we thought our dads weren’t supposed to be a couple.
But then we got to know each other + it felt like the greatest thing to happen to them.
Because we realized it was the greatest thing for both of us.
We wanted to be sisters. We would be Bett + Avery Devlin-Bloom, which is better than Bett + Avery Bloom-Devlin, rhythmically.
Only the more we got excited for this to happen, the more it all fell apart for our dads + we couldn’t stop that.
No one’s supposed to tell anyone, “You two shouldn’t love each other.” But maybe, also, no one’s supposed to tell anyone, “You two should love each other.”
What we wanted was a bigger family. We wanted a celebration. We wanted a wedding. Tonight, we got that.
It’s not because of us. But we helped. We are Night Owl + Dogfish. One of us is wise like an owl + stays up late observing things. And the other one is fierce like a shark + is always on the move. Maybe it seems like we have nothing in common, but that isn’t true. Together, we cover land + sky + sea. Together, we are a team.
But this, right now, is about another team. It’s about how Dinos + Gaga—some people call her Betty—fell in love.
They aren’t the same age. (Sorry, Gaga, but it’s just a fact that you’ve got a few years on Dinos.) They don’t come from the same place. Or have the same background. But Gaga lost her husband, Alden. And Dinos lost his wife, Calista.
Gaga is an actress now living in New York and Dinos is the main doorman in her building. Gaga is from Texas. Dinos is from Greece.
And they love each other.
They discovered this in his Prius, driving up to Maine.
It wasn’t just Gaga’s ability to figure out directions when the Google Maps app stopped working.
Or that Dinos needed new dental work after he ate Gaga’s homemade peanut brittle, but still asked for more of it.
It wasn’t only that Dinos makes the best coffee in the world, and loves opera + theater + sardine sandwiches.
It was something bigger that they see in each other that makes them both want to hold on + not let go.
They animate each other’s souls.
That’s why we’re here tonight.
Gaga and Dinos, you’re just starting out in your new life. We—Avery Allenberry Bloom and Bett Garcia Devlin—want to say that we will always be there for you.
All of the people in this room are here to say the same thing.
Families can look different now from how they used to. And sisters can look different, too.
Gaga and Dinos: YOU are our grandma and grandpa. In all the ways that count.
And Dad and Papa, you’re now friends.
We think you always will be. You shared a wild motorcycle ride across China. Because of that, Kristina is a big part of our lives today.
And when that happened, Gaga and Dinos came together.
So many friends from so many places are here. People from Greece. People from Texas. Judge Evan, who married you. Actors + the crew from the play HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY. Even some of our fellow campers from two different summers at two different camps. (Shout out to Brielle + Tyler + Piper + Dilshad + Jasmine!) Members of the doorman’s union Local 32BJ + and, of course, all the relatives.
We were very excited to meet Dinos’s three kids, Helen, Vivi, and Demetri and their families. Epolia, you’re Dinos’s granddaughter and now Gaga’s new granddaughter, and you’re exactly our age! What do you think about summer camp?
Jalen + Billy, you just got 2 new babysitters. We can’t wait to spend more time with you.
There’s going to be a special dance after you all drink the champagne.
Dinos + Gaga will start. Then Gaga’s going to dance with Marlow. Then Dinos takes Vivi, and then he takes Helen. From there, Avery’s coming onto the floor with Sam. I’ve got my dad. Vivi switches to Coco. Silvia + Syd join in.
Kristina will hit the dance floor with Daniel Birnbaum from Camp CIGI. (It’s a surprise to us that you two stayed in touch, but not a problem.)
After that, we want all of YOU out there.
Here is the last thing: Everyone should just try to move like Javier.
We won’t look the same, but he knows his stuff.
Dancing is a way of setting your spirit free. We didn’t come up with that—Javier told us.
Here’s to families. To dads, moms, brothers + sisters + grandparents + uncles + aunts + cousins.
HERE’S TO LOVE.
HERE’S TO US ALL.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank our two editors, Lauri Hornik + Julie Strauss-Gabel, who are also our two publishers at Dial and Dutton.
We want to acknowledge our gratitude to the president of Penguin Young Readers, Jen Loja.
We need to express our gratitude to the publicity, promotion, education, and sales teams at PYR.
We have to say that our agents are everything to us—Thank you, Amy Berkower, Suzanne Gluck, Anna DeRoy, and Cecilia de la Campo.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Holly Goldberg Sloan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and spent her childhood living in Holland; Istanbul, Turkey; Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and Eugene, Oregon. After graduating from Wellesley College and spending some time as an advertising copywriter, she began writing family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield and Made in America. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Counting by 7s and Short, among other novels.
Meg Wolitzer was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in the town of Syosset, on Long Island, and sold her first novel, Sleepwalking, while a senior in college. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels for adults, including The Interestings, The Ten-Year Nap, The Wife, and The Female Persuasion; the young adult novel Belzhar; and the middle-grade novel The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.
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