Marley & Me Page #8

A couple days will be all right.

You guys know each other.

You'll be comfortable.

- Want a beer?

- No, I'm fine. Thanks. Are you moving?

- Yeah.

- Where?

New York.

The Gray Lady came a-courtin'.

The Times offered you

a permanent job?

I gave Arnie my notice last week.

- You didn't say anything.

- I know. I'm sorry.

I just- It all happened so fast,

I'm not even used to the idea yet.

That's great. The New York Times.

It's what we always dreamed of.

Well, congratulations.

I mean, you deserve it.

- Yeah.

- Thanks for looking after Marley.

- Yeah.

- He's eating your briefcase right now.

- Sh*t!

- Marley. Marley, no.

- Two days, John. I'm serious.

- Sorry.

Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.

I wasn't, uh, sleeping.

- Where's Marley?

- Sebastian's gonna watch him for a few days.

Mm-hmm. I'd love to see that.

Just until I can find

a more permanent home.

- This is his permanent home, John.

- Mmm.

Marley's not going anywhere.

Honey, I'm sorry.

I just got overwhelmed.

- No one tells you how hard this is all gonna be.

- Which part?

All of it:

Marriage, being a parent.

It's the hardestjob in the world

and nobody prepares you for that.

Nobody tells you how much

you have to give up.

I feel like they do tell you,

but you don't listen...

or you think, "Ah, they're just miserable. "

I've given up so much

of what made me who I am.

But I can't say that because...

I'm a very bad person if I say that.

But I feel it. I really do.

I feel it sometimes. I just-

I just want you to know that.

I do know that.

And you can say it. I say it.

But I did make a choice.

I made a choice, and even

if it's harder than I thought...

I don't regret it.

- Are you sure?

- I am very sure.

'Cause it kinda has like a

"there's no place like home" feeling to it.

I just think these things are gonna happen

and we're gonna get through them.

- And we'll just do it together.

- Together.

- Getting rid of Marley is not gonna fix anything.

- No.

And getting rid of you

isn't gonna fix anything either.

- Can I ask you a favor?

- Yes.

No more kids for a while.

Absolutely. Deal.

Hi, guys.

All right, say hello to Colleen.

- Daddy says her name is Whoops.

- No, I-

- Patrick said that.

- What?

- Why did you say that?

- I was just kidding around.

- It was kind of a secret, guys.

- Over here.

The old pro moves back.

He looks for a little separation.

Gets an assist from Colleen.

Nice shot, Dad!

Nice shot? Come on. Conor?

- Extraordinary.

- Yeah. Again.

Wait. Let me get this. I'll be back.

- All right.

- The knees are shot.

- Hello?

- John Grogan?

Yes, it is.

- Gil Lawford from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

- Uh, yeah, yeah.

Hi. How are you?

Thanks for getting back to me.

Oh! Hey, who was that on the phone?

The Philadelphia Inquirer.

I sent the editor some clips

a while back and he wants to meet.

- What's a while back?

- He was down here on vacation a month ago.

And he read my stuff.

And we kind of had lunch.

- How do you kind of have lunch?

- I didn't think anything was gonna come of it.

Okay.

- But?

- They offered me a job.

I mean, I have an interview.

- As, like, a columnist or-

- As a reporter.

As a reporter?

Well, what did you say?

I said, "Thank you very much,

but I'm happy here. "

"Never have I heard someone

piss and moan as much as John Grogan.

If he doesn't like it here,

he should move. "

That's part of my job

is to get a response.

- I'm glad to see a little blood flowing from these people.

- No.

- There's a recurring theme here.

- Recurring theme is we got a lot of cranks in Broward County.

- That's what I'm up against.

- But what I'm trying to say, with all due respect...

is that you are one of them!

I'm a commentator.

Everyone wants me to act...

like everything's great,

when there are issues.

There's overcrowding, there's crime,

there's racial tensions.

Every time you turn around there's a new

sky rise going up even uglier than the one-

That goes on all over the world.

It's not Florida. It's you. What's wrong?

Nothing's wrong. Everyone wants to think,

"Oh, he's turning 40. He's become a curmudgeon. "

That's not it. Maybe-

I don't know. Maybe I'm sick of my column.

I don't- I don't find the things

I'm saying that interesting.

John. John, you're the comic voice

of south Florida.

You're a national treasure,

for God's sakes.

- Maybe a regional treasure.

- Well, a municipal treasure for sure.

- Thank you.

- Listen. Take a vacation. Go away for a couple weeks.

- Take a month off.

- Go where?

- I don't know.

- I live in a vacation spot.

Then go to someplace where it's painful and sad.

Oh, 40's gonna be tough, buddy.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

But we knew that.

We knew this was when

Father Time was gonna make his move.

Try to take us down a dark alley

and beat the hell out of us.

You got a little more

white around the temple...

but makes you look

more distinguished, I think.

We both lost a step.

I know.

How does it feel to have

your best years behind you?

You do everything you wanted to?

No, me neither.

All right. You hot?

You wanna cool off? Let's do it.

You know what? Not today.

You've been on a leash

a little too long.

Go! Go!

I think he got a little bit

of a second wind.

Go get it!

Happiness more or less

It's just a change in me

Something in my liberty

Oh, my, my

Happiness, coming and going

I watch you look at me

Watch my fever growing

I knowjust where I am

Well, I'm a lucky man

With fire in my hands

- Hey, get your dog!

- What?

No! No! Please, God, no!

No! No! No! No.

Come on!

Come here. Come here. That's okay.

Dude, that was not cool.

Come on, girl. Let's go.

Great.

Let's go.

Man, you are the world's worst dog.

You know that? Right?

You were top five

going into the day...

and with this little stunt,

you moved into number one.

And I take my hat off to you.

Surprise!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dearJohn

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday.

You can help me. Hold on.

Hold on. On three. One, two, three.

But don't beg, Marley.

It's not good. 'Cause we don't have to.

Tell me the truth.

Were you surprised?

- Completely. Yes. Thank you.

- Really?

- I was. You guys got me.

- We got you!

Are you ready for

your birthday present?

There's more? I don't need

any other presents.

- Happy birthday.

- What was that?

That was my blessing

to take that job in Philadelphia.

That was months ago.

I'm not thinking about that.

Well, then any other job.

- We'll follow you wherever you wanna go.

- I understand.

But I'm not gonna do that.

I'm not gonna uproot us.

We got our friends.

The kids enjoy school.

And I got my poker game.

I couldn't possibly-

First of all, it's just an interview.

You don't have the job yet.

And second of all, honey,

you don't have any friends.

That's right. I was wondering,

who were all those strangers tonight?

- I hired them.

- What I'm trying to say...

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