RIP, Larry

When did it become customary to list your "Dislikes" next to your "Likes" in an obituary?

Direct quote from an obituary in today's local paper:

"Larry disliked beets, drive thrus, musicals and Jane Fonda."
(Yes, Larry was a Vietnam Vet, in case you were wondering)

This has me wondering what I hate enough to request that it be listed in my obituary.

Yardwork.
Bees.
Ray Lewis.
Soccer.  (Known in my house as the "S word")
Pea soup.

What's on YOUR list?

22 years ago

I have a "dark day".  It's September 2nd.

22 years ago, the phone rang and my world collapsed.

It wasn't even my phone, it was a pay phone.

It was my freshman year in college and my room didn't have phone service yet, so I would get a phone call every night from my mom.

I couldn't figure out why she was calling me this night though.  She had just dropped me off that day, Labor Day, after 3 days at home with friends and family.

"I have bad news", she said.

"Grandpa's dead.", I said.  One of my worst fears.

"No, it's Brian."  I think I was held up off the ground, by the phone cord.

His name was Brian Wilhelm and he was my world.  He was funny, charming, and flawed.  He was 10 years older than me, but I loved him.  We both thought he was invincible.  

And he was killed by his best friend who was drinking and driving.

Make good choices, everyone.  Don't create a dark day for someone who loves you.

Rest in peace, Willie.  I miss you very much.  Every time I pick up a friend at a bar to give them a safe ride home, I do it in your honor.

To the Point

Lucy is reaching for a bag of BarBQue potato chips.

I say to her "Momma, can I have a chip, please?  Use one of those words to get a chippie, Lucy."

She looks at me and says "Yum."



Close enough, kiddo.  Close enough.

Hey Mom...

Heard at my house today...

"Hey Mom - was Justin Bieber at Selena Gomez's birthday party?"
"I don't know, buddy...I wasn't invited."

Jumble Madness

Abby loves doing the jumble in the newspaper.  Today she asked for some help.

"Mom - the 5 letters are P...U...Y...S...."  (What the ...???)

"and O."



Yeah...that's "SOUPY"....close one.

Yep, no doubt about it

Lucy is standing up, bent in half, with her head resting on a chair, farting and laughing.

Yeah...no DNA test required....she's mine.

Lookie Loos

Crazytown has relocated for the week...in other words, we are on vacation.

On our second day of vacation, we met up with some members of my family for lunch and a trip to the local zoo.  We decided on McDonalds for lunch and due to the warm weather, decided to eat inside.

There were 7 of us:
myself, Rob, Abby, Lucy
a new friend who is a 7 year old girl, and
my aunt and uncle.

We ate lunch rather quietly for such a large group.  When we were leaving, I noticed that nearly every person in the room was openly staring at us.  (Rob noticed too)

I have had people look at us before, sometimes they think Rob is someone famous (he's been accused of being a former professional athlete) or sometimes when one of the kids is disruptive, but I ABSOLUTELY believe we were being stared at because we were with a biracial couple.  I asked my aunt, who said that in the neighborhood we were in, that was likely the case.  Sad.

Get over it, people.  My aunt and uncle have been married for nearly 40 years and have been living in your town for 24 years.

If I had a few more days, I would organize a flash mob of gay couples (some of them with different skin colors too) in the parking lot to really freak out the lookie-loos from McDonalds.

Tolerance and acceptance for everyone.  Get on board.