Charlie and Nicole

What I love about Nicole：

She makes people feel comfortable about even embarrassing things. She really listens when someone is talking. Sometimes she listens too much for too long. She's a good citizen. She always knows the right thing to do when it comes to difficult family shit. I get stuck in my ways，and she knows when to push me and when to leave me alone. She cuts all our hair. She's always inexplicably brewing a cup of tea that she doesn't drink. And it's not easy for her to put away a sock, or close a cabinet，or do a dish，but she tries for me.Nicole grew up in LA around actors and directors, and movies, and TV,and is very close to her mother, Sandra, and Cassie, her sister. Nicole gives great present. She is a mother who plays, really plays. She never steps off playing or says it’s too much. And it must be too much some of the time. She’s competitive. She’s amazing at opening jars because of her strong arms, which I’ve always found very sexy. She keeps the fridge over-full. No one is ever hungry in our house. She can drive a stick. After that movie, All Over The Girl, she could have stayed in LA and been a movie star, but she gave that up to do theater with me in New York. She’s brave. She’s a great dancer. Infectious. She makes me wish I could dance. She always says when she doesn’t know something, or hasn’t read a book, or seen a film or a play, whereas I fake it or something like I haven’t seen it in awhile. My crazy ideas are her favorite things to figure out how to execute. She's my favourite actress.

What I love about Charlie:

Charlie is undaunted. He never lets other people’s opinions or any setbacks keep him from what he wants to do. Charlie eats like he’s trying to get it over with and like there won’t be enough food for everyone. A sandwich is to be strangled while devoured. But he’s incredibly neat, and I rely on him to keep things in order. He’s energy-conscious. He doesn’t look in the mirror too often. He cries easily in movies. He’s very self-sufficient. He can darn a sock, and cook himself dinner, and iron a shirt. He rarely gets defeated, which I feel like I always do. Charlie takes all of my moods steadily. He doesn’t give in to them or make me feel bad about them. He’s a great dresser. He never looks embarrassing, which is hard for a man. He’s very competitive. He loves being a dad. He loves all things you’re supposed to hate, like tantrums, the waking up at night. It’s almost annoying how much he likes it, but... then, it’s mostly nice. He disappears into his own world. He and Henry are alike in that way. He can tell people when they have food in their teeth or on their face in a way that doesn’t make them feel bad. Charlie is self-made. His parents...I only met them once but he told me there was a lot of alcohol and some violence in his childhood. He moved to New York from Indiana with no safety net, and now he’s more New Yorker than any New Yorker. He’s brilliant at creating family out of whoever is around. With the theater company, he cast a spell that made everyone feel included. No one, not even an intern, was unimportant. He could remember all the inside jokes. He’s extremely organized and thorough. He’s very clear about what he wants, unlike me, who can’t always tell.