Play

Abstract

Her dad’s unusual ability to keep playing like a child, as well as his choice to resist adults’ rules, made him a memorable playmate. AsWalls andher siblings grewolder, her parents’ refusal to accept rules andboundariesmade daily life very difficult. After strenuous effort, the children broken away from their parents and started lives of their own within more conventional boundaries. One spring day in New York City, while on her way to a party in a taxi,Walls saw her mother pulling trash out of a dumpster. Feeling embarrassed and sad, she asked the taxi driver to take her home to Park Avenue. Later, when she told her mother how uncomfortable she felt, her mother said, ‘Your father and I are who we are. Accept it’ (5). She also said that her daughter should tell the truth. Walls takes her mother’s advice and tells the truth about her family’s challenges and joys. She thanks her mother for believing in art and truth and her father for dreaming big dreams. Although she does not thank her parents for letting her play as freely as she wanted to, it is clear that this freedom was crucial. After playing with fire, creating ‘nuclear fuel,’ and fighting lettuce wars, she felt strong enough to handle whatever else might come up. Like Brian Sutton-Smith, she remembered her wild childhood play and made it part of her work. Her father, both a play companion and a giver of stars, gave her a kind of inspiration that is good to keep in mind as our new year moves forward.