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The Stepfather
A weird time at a summer work party
It was July of 2004 and I had accompanied my then-girlfriend, now-wife to her summer work party. She was employed by a small financial services company in the city and had a boss who frequently pampered his employees.
After an afternoon spent playing flag football and various games, while in between eating lobster and watermelon, we all congregated near the marina in Boston and took our seats at a long table in a sectioned-off parking lot area outside a quaint restaurant.
Seafood and beer and wine were soon served. And I found myself chatting away with Kathleen’s colleague sitting across from me, an affable guy with jet-black hair who looked about my age.
We were getting really buzzed from all the alcohol, and though I don’t recall exactly how we broached the subject, we instantly began bonding over having seen the 1987 cult horror film “The Stepfather,” starring Terry O’Quinn.
Now this guy was really into the movie. He started quoting the famous line Terry O’Quinn’s character says:
“This is supposed to be — a family!”
I laughed.
But then he got louder and kept repeating the line, each time slamming his hand down on the table.
