I have another quick poll for you guys. As you know, I post Monday through Friday, and I was thinking that this might be information overload for you all. I’m sure it’s hard to take the time to read them daily. How many days a week do you want to read posts on the blog?

I’m still waiting a few more days for the results of yesterday’s poll. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy this one. Be sure to share it with your Facebook buddies!

Me: Henry Fonda. Do you wanna get him, Erik?

Jamie: Jane Fonda’s Father?

Me: Yeah. Her daddy. Want to make it our last one today, Erik?

Jamie (to Erik): Do it; do it, do it, Erik. Go!

(Long pause)

Jamie: Here’s where we need our music. (She hums the Jeopardy tune.)

Me: Yeah or cricket sounds!

We both chuckle.

Jamie: Hi. It is Mr. Henry Fonda.

Me: Hi Mr. Fonda. Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed.

Henry: Well thank you.

Me: Thanks for bringing him, Erik.

Jamie: He has very clean pronunciation. Clean voice.

Me: All the people you’ve brought in today, Erik, have great voices. I suppose you know whey we’ve brought you here today, Mr. Fonda. I hope you do.

Henry: Yes ma’am.

Me: Sorry we don’t have the red carpet rolled out for you. We’re working on that.

Jamie chuckles.

Henry: It’s perfectly fine.

Me: The first question we’d like to ask you is what do you think your spiritual mission was while you were here on the earthly plane as Henry Fonda?

(Long pause)

Jamie: He kind of jokes. It’s neat; he smiles when he talks and he was saying is the spiritual mission the same as the drive?

Jamie laughs.

Me (laughing): What?

Jamie: Like, he says as long as he ever knew, he was great at acting. He was a ham. He loved people’s attention. He could play any role and go with it without fear.

Henry: So, would that count as spiritual mission to be an actor or is that just my personal drive?

Me: Well your spiritual mission is about life. It doesn’t have to be your acting roles. It can be anything in your personal life too.

(I can’t believe I’m explaining stuff to Henry Fonda of all people.)

Henry: Then I believe my spiritual mission was bringing my children into this world.

Me: Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere! Now explain more. Why was that your spiritual mission?

Henry: It broadsided me. In the age where I grew up, there was confusion and a lot of turmoil. Life was very much alive in every aspect, and I got to play roles, you know—everything. Although I loved encouraging myself to kind of step outside the boundaries and we always know—you get married, you have kids and I knew that was going to be my next step when I had kids. It broadsided me and made me realize who I needed to fight for. It made me realize who I needed to protect. I was a boy when I saw my first death.

Talk about turning on a dime!

Me: Oh gosh.

Henry: It was the death of another boy. A young man. It was a racist act.

How timely. I had no idea I was going to post this interview today. It was completely random like throwing a dart at a dart board There are no coincidences.

Jamie: He doesn’t use the term black. He just says it was just a racist act, but he’s showing me it was an African American.

Henry: I never understood the lengths that people could go to. My firstborn was a daughter. Seeing her, it terrified me in ways I didn’t know existed.

Me: Aw.

Henry: It reminded me of what I needed to do to teach her and protect her and then my other lovely children that followed.

Me: Well, what were you here to learn? Were you here to protect, to love?

Henry: I feel it was a true test to learn how to be myself. I was encouraged to change my words, my personality, my looks, my everything to get what I wanted or needed—that being companies, agents, society, family, and I just decided I won’t going to do that anymore. That is what I was here to learn, and having children started me on that path.

Me: And as an actor, that must have been the environment that was most difficult to accomplish that test, that mission.

(Pause)

Me: And you did it!

Henry: Thank you.

Me: What were you here to teach?

Jamie: He cuts his eyes over to Erik and says, “ Did I teach anything?”

Henry: Honesty. Honesty.

Me: And did you accomplish that too?

Henry: I accomplished honesty, and my children will tell you they probably didn’t like it so much.

Me: It would appear that you accomplished everything you came here to do.

Henry: It would appear that way.

Me: Okay, and did it? Appearances aren’t necessarily reality.

Henry: I never could just sit still with what I was meant to do. I was always looking out for something more or the next thing. I had a really hard time finishing things—finishing things that I started, that kind of thing. I would just move on. If I was always looking for the next great thing, then I guess I would always never feel like I would achieve all that I wanted to.

Me: You know, one of my favorite movies of yours was On Golden Pond. What was your favorite creation?

Henry: That was the most powerful movie. It was my last hurrah. I have several favorites, but my real love was Broadway.

Me: Really?

Henry: I loved the live audience, the immediate feedback, the heat of the lights, the applause, and yes, the boos.

Jamie and I laugh. I had no idea he acted on Broadway. Actually, other than watching a couple of his movies, I don’t know much about the man and his personal life.

Henry: Oh yeah. I’ve heard boos.

(Pause)

Henry: It was in the most treacherous times.

Jamie: He really likes to talk about the ups and downs that he lived in—through the wars and the depression and so on.

Me: I guess it gives him a lot of fodder for his acting.

Jamie: He’s talking about a game of love and death. A game of life and death? The g-grapes—

Me: The Grapes of Wrath.

Henry: Yes.

Me: Okay. What was the life that most influenced this last life as Henry Fonda?

Jamie: He closes his eyes, puts his hands in his jacket pockets, because he’s wearing a jacket. A dress jacket. It’s a nice jacket.

Jamie (to Henry): No, just tell me about it.

(Long pause with unintelligible whispering from Jamie)

Jamie: He’s showing me he’s an older woman. He’s in a rocking chair. A chair that moved. He is, or she is knitting something or putting something together, sewing, something happening in the lap. It’s a project of some sort. Her hair is unkempt. It doesn’t even look like the chair is on a porch. It’s weird because instead of being on the front porch like most chairs are, it’s on the back side of the house up underneath the porch tucked away. There’s this huge storm coming in.

Henry: I remember at that moment I had lost my family. There was a war, and I had decided I was ready to die, but my body was still healthy. My wit was still there; my body was still strong. It angered me to no end because I could not commit suicide. So, I took to doing all my work outside hoping to catch a cold, hoping to have death just come my way. Just come.

Me: Aw.

Henry: And there was this bad storm that rolled in, and sure enough the house was struck with lightning, and it had a running point.

I have no idea what that means, but…

Henry: I wasn’t exactly hit, but the house was. It came down and crushed me. It took awhile for me to die in the storm, but I remember the rain hitting my face, my hair getting caught up around my ear and coming down. And in that moment it took so long to die, I was so happy to let go. Ah, so happy. It was such a beautiful moment for me, but if someone was watching, it would be devastating.

Me: Oh, god, I bet.

Henry: I’m mentioning this moment of death because it was loved and embraced, and I wanted to know if I could, in this lifetime, have this as well.

Me: Loving and embracing—

Henry: Death.

Me: Do you mean the bad times or death literally. Are you using death as a metaphor for ugly times?

Henry: No. Death literally, and after being shown death at a young age, abuse at a young age, I lost sight and became fearful of death again, and I think that’s why my children’s lives were so impactful to me because all of a sudden I had a different purpose.

Me: I’m sure. That all makes such sense. Are you incarnated on the Earth now?

Henry: Yes.

Me: Yes? Where and as whom? Are you male or female?

Henry: I’m a male back in the U.S. and within my family again.

Me: Oh, how wonderful. Okay. Good. Do you have any messages or advice for humanity?

(Pause)

Jamie: He just kind of smiles.

Henry: I don’t know. I don’t really know what to say in general to everybody.

Me: Well, do you want to say anything in general to your children? Would you like to do that instead?

Henry (laughing): Oh, they’ve heard me talk enough.

(Long pause)

Henry: I would like to encourage people to—

(Another long pause)

Jamie: Erik’s talking to him. That’s why it’s kind of choppy. He’s coaching him like maybe’s there’s something he didn’t do that he wanted to do.

Henry: I would like to encourage fathers to take the role of being a mother so that they do not miss the lives of their children. I didn’t mother mine enough because I was too involved in my work. We’re not born to work. We’re born to be families. I want people to know that.

Me: Yeah. And did you do that, Henry, or do you think you wanted to do that and looked back and wished you had?

Henry: I looked back and wished I had.

Me: I see. Erik, do you have any questions for Mr. Fonda?

Erik: Nah, I think we’ve tortured him enough.

Jamie laughs.

Me: Aw, poor guy. Well, thank you so much. What an illuminating interview this has been. I appreciate it.

Henry: Thanks.

Jamie: He’s waving goodbye and talking to Erik. They’re kind of doing that man hug thing.

Me: Aw.

Jamie: And, they’re gone.