Allister often exhibited the curious habit of asking, "Are you related to..." after being introduced to someone. The transaction of words usually went something like this:
Friend of Allister's says, "Allister I would like you to meet Gregor Bjornstad." To which Allister would reply, "Bjornstad, eh? Are you related to Valerie Bjornstad?"
To understand his reasoning, we must first remember that Allister was born into a small town. And, if you come from a small town, you can attest that when you meet two Johnsons it is most likely that they are relatives. This is even more the case when you meet two Bjornstads in a small town. Allister outgrew the small town, but he never outgrew this habit-attempting to link Johnson to Johnson continents away from each other.
In Allister's head, family trees were much too large to fit in an album. Their branches extended in spidery legs that reached down and clutched every person bearing the Johnson name (for example) by the head, like human fruit. Human Johnson fruit. So, a tree such as the Johnson tree would bear fruit that resembled firemen, Irishmen, bushmen, and ballerinas. He made these links with disregard to color or shape. A Johnson must be a Johnson and, so too, a Taylor must be a Taylor. This extended, of course, to his family as well. Allister once said, "I never met a Cromley I did not know."
It should be noted that in using this process he was able to make a few astounding connections. But, as was most often the case, Allister would find an odd pause. Not necessarily an uncomfortable one, just an odd one that no one knew what to do with. And so, Allister would often fill the pause with wonderment. Wondering what it must have been like to have been the first Taylor, if that was in fact the person's last name. He, too, wondered just as much about what the first Bjornstad did for a living. And this led him to wonder what a Cromley was and why had the family not kept the business going? But, maybe the business was still in full service, after all. Perhaps being a Cromley meant questioning. Allister was unsure and so wondered if, instead, the first Cromley was the first unsure man to walk the Earth.
Friend of Allister's says, "Allister I would like you to meet Gregor Bjornstad." To which Allister would reply, "Bjornstad, eh? Are you related to Valerie Bjornstad?"
To understand his reasoning, we must first remember that Allister was born into a small town. And, if you come from a small town, you can attest that when you meet two Johnsons it is most likely that they are relatives. This is even more the case when you meet two Bjornstads in a small town. Allister outgrew the small town, but he never outgrew this habit-attempting to link Johnson to Johnson continents away from each other.
In Allister's head, family trees were much too large to fit in an album. Their branches extended in spidery legs that reached down and clutched every person bearing the Johnson name (for example) by the head, like human fruit. Human Johnson fruit. So, a tree such as the Johnson tree would bear fruit that resembled firemen, Irishmen, bushmen, and ballerinas. He made these links with disregard to color or shape. A Johnson must be a Johnson and, so too, a Taylor must be a Taylor. This extended, of course, to his family as well. Allister once said, "I never met a Cromley I did not know."
It should be noted that in using this process he was able to make a few astounding connections. But, as was most often the case, Allister would find an odd pause. Not necessarily an uncomfortable one, just an odd one that no one knew what to do with. And so, Allister would often fill the pause with wonderment. Wondering what it must have been like to have been the first Taylor, if that was in fact the person's last name. He, too, wondered just as much about what the first Bjornstad did for a living. And this led him to wonder what a Cromley was and why had the family not kept the business going? But, maybe the business was still in full service, after all. Perhaps being a Cromley meant questioning. Allister was unsure and so wondered if, instead, the first Cromley was the first unsure man to walk the Earth.
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