LAUGHTER HEALS THE SOUL

What the hell!
Hand me a damn box of Kleenex...I sound like a big baby in my last few posts!
Get the hell over yourself you bi-polar sounding nut! hahaa!

K. Back to life...back to reality...

I am thankful.

Thankful for my grandparents who crack me up and love me to itsy bitsy bits.

My grandmother and I can sit and talk for hours about things that might possibly be serious topics but we always end up laughing about something or the other. Half the time it’s because she says something funny. Words come out that she's twisted around in her hilarious yet charming East Tennessee twang and we just crack up. For instance, here’s an example of my Grandma, Patsy Jean: Last Thanksgiving my Grandma was running through the store trying to get through her list and was down to the last item and could not find it. She was looking for the isle where they kept nuts, pecans to be exact. Looking for a “clerk” she finall found one and asked the guy, who was knelt down stocking cans, "Sir, do you know where your nuts are?" and he looked at up her wide eyed and said, "Yes, ma'am. Right this way." As she followed him she was laughing one of those hard silent laughs. He guided her to the nut isle and she said thank you with her head down and tears streaming down her face. This was told over and over at Thanksgiving Dinner. I am sure it will be brought up again this year along with whatever other flubs come springing from her creative mind. I am surprised that no one in the family aspirated on their food. My God, I love my Grandma!

The woman is not afraid to speak her mind. Today, at "The Publix", as she calls it, she couldn't find the hardwood cleaner she’s used for years. So she picked up the phone, called the Pledge Company and asked them if they stopped making it. Nope, they've changed the packaging...for the THRID time! That got under her skin and she let them know it. Why do they feel the need to change the bottle so many times!?!? Kroger stopped carrying Bran Flakes about two months ago and within a week she had them back on the shelves in her area.

She has called several of our state's elected officials, making it through to them personally, when she’s disagreed with something. She picked up the phone not long ago and called the White House when the issue of Gay Marriage was ricocheting through her beliefs. They listened and wrote her a letter. If she wanted to talk to W herself I bet money she could get him on the phone. She said to me tonight, "Honey, if you need the number to the White House, I've got it!" She's not afraid to stand for anything she believes in and she, my friends, is woman of strength, character, and to be quite frank she's got balls of steel.

Grandad, he is just as funny, but in his own way. I love when he laughs so hard his tan Indian skin turns twenty shades of red and it is this long silent laughter that rolls into this loud laugh from that comes right from the gut. This is really a trademark laugh in my family and it feels so good. I pity those who will never experience it. And all the while she is cracking us all up I know in his heart he is saying “My God I love this woman!” They are each other’s heart beat. It’s beautiful. I can only hope to be so lucky in my life. My family is synonymous with humor. Whatever guy ends up with me forever will be so lucky. Not because of me but because of my hilarious family.

It was a good night. I really needed them and they needed me. It’s been so difficult for the both of them with my Grandad going through chemotherapy and my Grandma dealing with her best friend and husband’s ails along with her own. After a long hard week I woke up this morning and knew I needed to spend the evening with my grandparents. When my day was done, I anxiously called and they were so excited that I wanted to come over. We ate (ok, overate!) dinner, looked at old pictures, talked about old times, I told her about what happened this week on CSI, she told me about the Lifetime movie she watched last week, they gave me an old 4 cup coffee pot because my Grandad, who loves (absolutely loves) coffee, cannot for another moment let his granddaughter live without one! I wish I could have stayed longer. I know my Grandma and I would still be up talking. But the night was growing into early Saturday and I had to be getting back to Nashville. We will talk tomorrow. About Banana Pudding vs. Heath Bar Pie and Indian Saturday’s to be exact.

You know, so many people have walked in and out of my life over the years, even recently, but with a family like this one there is not a reason to ever feel alone.