Memory 1: For Mom

This anniversary week, I recall true love that I was blessed to see in my parents...

Grocery shopping with my dad is an unparalleled experience. He scours labels; he calculates cost per ounce (long before stores began actually publishing that information); he whistles riffs to the Muzak; he knows the cashier or their bosses (a visit to the bread store, for example, would always include the cashier leaning in and, in a hushed tone, intimate which twisties were on the freshest bread.)

Selecting fruit took minutes of study. What Dad always did with me was instruct me to find the biggest, best one, the unblemished, most spectacular piece. That one was for mom. We'd bag it and begin looking for the others.

Every time, just by rote, we were finding the best for her.

Open Call For Uncle Walter Stories

I reached out to Uncle Walter, asking for some time to interview him for the blog. He responded, "Sounds interesting, although I have no remote idea why anyone would want o hear me expound on anything..."

So, I'm asking all three of you readers to toss out an Uncle Walter story, so we can give him a warm welcome here. That would mean you'd either a) email it to me or b) comment -an art mastered so far by only Renee. Then again, maybe she's the only person reading this.

My Uncle Walter story...of many. I was going home with him to Slidell to spend the night or so with Brandon. Everyone was asleep but Uncle Walter and Aunt Pat in the front. We started talking, and he began to ask what I wanted for breakfast, admitting he knew nothing about cooking. He spent the entire trip to Slidell asking me about how to make pancakes - from how to crack eggs to what was to go into it - with Aunt Pat intermittently cautioning him and cackling.

It wasn't until the next day that I realized he actually knew how to cook, and that I wasn't going to have to fish eggshells out of the batter.

Another was when Renee or someone was doing a puzzle and he offered to help. He took pieces that didn't fit, and tried jamming them into the existing puzzle. then he took a glass and used it to shove pieces that didn't belong together. After some minutes of getting everyone riled up, he was done helping....

I'm sure you have more and better....

Time To Sing Into The Filter Queen

I'll sing the echoes on the "Girls in town..." and the "follow you..." "all around..."