First I Would Like to Thank God...

I have been cracking myself up on Face book for over a hour...thought it was time to crack myself up on my blog.
One time a while back I posted something on FB that one of my husband's former classmate's read. He commented back "Kelly, you crack me up."

I wrote back and said "Tim said I crack myself up too".

Bless Tim's heart...we are SUCH polar opposites that it is not even funny but he has put up with me for  20 plus years and I guess he just finally threw up his hands and threw in the towel a few years back hoping he could just survive being married to an idiot like me.

So I think I'm funny...SUE me! Good luck with that settlement.

The thing that has gotten me through this past year has been hands down , God.

 Right behind Him are my family and screaming up their butt's is a myriad of friends. Some from my childhood, some from high school and even from college. Some are people I have never met. Some are former co workers and some are present co workers. I truly think that my sense of humor has helped as well.

 If you laugh, it helps..if you cry, not so much.

Last year this time we were almost desperate. By Spring we were frantic and extremely desperate.

By Summer we were making it with so much help that I felt like a homeless person living under the bridge by Turner field.

As this year ends and another starts...I have realized how many people love us and how many people have gotten us to this point, a point where I can laugh again.

I was booted out of a job that couldn't have cared less for what was happening to me or my family (good riddance) and my husband felt the weight of the world crashing on his shoulders.

I don't know if it was my blog or my upbringing or my wit  but it all seemed to come together for us. Blessing after blessing was bestowed upon us and somehow we managed.

Some days we would be scheduled for cut off on a utility and in the mail box would be a check. Some days we would be facing a mortgage payment we couldn't make and there would be an envelope in the mail with the exact amount we needed.

I even got to take a vacation with Massey early in the Summer...thanks to two wonderful friends that not only paid for everything but fixed my daughter's computer with a memory boost and introduced me to the fascinating concept of how comfy  pillow topped  mattresses are. (I never wanted to get out of bed).

I have always been a Liberal...used to be a Dem but am sick of both parties right now. My two friends are Gay and I can think of no better word to describe them. I don't think I have ever met a Gay person that is not one of the nicest and most sincere people on the planet.

You don't choose to be Gay..."Who would"? It's a life that so many frown upon and condemn because of their own prejudice. It ain't a cake walk for the Gays either.

I am thrilled to say that my daughter has followed my footsteps ,  letting people be WHO they are and loving them for the people they ARE, not for the people others want them to be.

I have also had people that may not agree with my views..which are pretty well OUT there too...but seem to love me anyway and their love has been felt and appreciated as well.

It's a big wide world, with a huge diversity and a huge range of emotions.

I have never pretended to be someone else. Everyone that reads my blog knows me...I put it out there every day for a reason.

I want you to know me.

I want you to know my journey.

I want you to know how much it has meant to me.

"I would first like to Thank God. I would then like to thank my family. Next up would be childhood friends. Then would come the people from high school...The mighty RHS peeps Angie, Karen, Big Scott, Becky and Mary, Linda...Roxie, Rin, Beth and Neesey (Lep's daughter).  Ms.  Dee and Ms. Karen from Massey's high school, including Ms Becky and Ms Tanya. Moving on to all my brother's classmate's and my sister's classmates. Then we'll move on to my college classmates..and my college room mate. " Also..."Chris, you had the most amazing video of the year and although we'll keep it secret....I think you beat Beyonce... you know how to work that wallet and I'll never forget it."

It may sound ridiculous but I am serious when I say there are too many people to name.


OH...don't forget my Hart connection...you fed us for a week with your coupons and got me a free oil change from my neighbor's son.


From Mary Anne with her cupcakes and the new friendship with my daughter to the countless ones from EPCC..the Lennon sisters (Taylor girls) and even a few people that still love me from the hell hole I used to work in. Special shout out to Lisa/Teresa. If I ever have another baby (don't EVEN count on it) I'll name it Lisateresa regardless of the sex. Wouldn't THAT be a curse from the jump?

To my Yankee friend J. Durst/ Walsh...I love you, and at least Pelosi has been down graded..she gets on my nerves too.

To my other Yankee friend, Joannah..WHEW, at least I ain't living in YOUR kind of cold. Although it may come in handy when you reach the Hot Flash stage.LMAO

I know as I wake on this first new day of the year,  I will read this post and have so many others to add...but that's a GOOD thing..

Wait for the edited version..but I still have three shifts to go in two days and the dogs are refusing to rub my aching feet.

ARRGGG...

Love to you all and thanks for thinking I am worth reading...as Tim says "I crack myself up."

Til next time...Soaking in a HOT tub COTTON

Santa's Getting Close...

I've had a rough couple of days. Working for a large corporation just isn't my cup of tea...I'll leave it at that.

I am glued to the radio station waiting for that magic song to play twice in a row. I have my sister listening now too. We have a network going...between me my three kids and my sister and her husband we are bound to have some advantage. I will admit that some of the songs are beginning to wear on my nerves but it is a small price to pay for a chance at five grand. The one that kills me is Elvis Presley singing "I'll Be Home For Christmas." The way he pronounces "MISS- ILL -TOW" instead of just singing "Mistletoe" drives me nuts. Listen next time you hear him singing it and you'll see what I mean.

Massey is all on board...I could tie her to an elf for a year and she still would love Christmas and all the music and trimmings.

She is so upbeat about everything she makes Richard Simmons seemed depressed. It's great to have a kid like her. She wears me out but is my best friend and keeps me going when I want to throw in the towel. We made cookies and cheese straws last night and had a wonderful time together. My cheese straws didn't turn out as good as I had hoped for...obviously there is a difference between ground red pepper and Cayenne Pepper. I bought some Cayenne pepper tonight at the store and will try it one more time. Massey is at practice and Zach is upstairs wearing his thumbs out on a game controller. TJ is on his way home from work and Tim is on his way to work.

Our tree looks beautiful and makes me feel better everytime I look at it. I finally finished my Christmas cards and will drop them off on my way to work in the morning. As Christmas rushes towards us at amazing speed, I have gotten into it more than I would have thought I would.

Things are still so tight you could strum a tune on them but we are finally making some headway and I have faith that next year will be a MUCH better year...if only I can make it ten more days and win that stinkin money from the radio station !!

Til Next time...COTTON BELL ROCK

PS Be sure to click on the pic of Santa...it's a good one!

Raindrops on Roses and Big Fat Wide Faces

These are a few of my favorite things.

The top picture is of course my daughter (with the big fat wide face.) The next picture is one of my dearest friends in the world, the girl on the right (with the big fat wide face.)

They both know they have big fat wide faces...it is both of their best features. I say this with all the love in my heart and soul. These are two of my most prized and dearest friends; My daughter and (let's call her "Terri" for this post.) I met Massey 14 years ago when she came into this world over two months early and almost killed me with an emergency C section and I met 'Terri' twelve years ago when I started at my restaurant. They both have incredibly curly hair, wide honest shining faces (well Terri's usually shines from hot flashes, but it still shines.)
They both have a heart as wide as their face and a soul that has unending depth.

I kid them both relentlessly because they look like twins separated by 36 years...dang that was a LONG labor!

They both wear those cute glasses shaped exactly the same way, they both give and give and you never see either of them in a bad mood... except for Massey when I harp on her cleaning her room and Terri when her meds aren't working :)

When Massey was younger and I would bring her to the restaurant, many people would ask Terri if she was her daughter.

Terri WOULD step in as Massey's mother in a heartbeat if she had to, or if anything ever happened to me and I know this for a fact. She would do anything for me or my girl.

I torment Terri at work on a daily basis and I truly don't know who enjoys it more, me or her?!

She is an awesome person...one I have been lucky enough to come to know and love and one that Massey ADORES.

They both have a mass of thick curly, unruly hair that neither of them know what to do with, they both have a golden heart... and they both love each other and both love me. How lucky can I be?

When I work the day shift with her, she will always let me stay late and let herself be cut from the floor just so I can make extra money. She will take my bank deposit for me on her way home and has even offered to put more money than I give her in my account (she knows how I bank.)

The last time I asked her to make a deposit, she hadn't been in a while and I didn't have any deposit slips so I wrote my account # down for her and asked her to just fill out a deposit slip when she got there. No problem! She didn't mind at all. She said she was going to her mom's house and was there a branch in downtown Newnan? I told her yes, right on the town square.

She called me later after I got home and was cooking dinner. She told me that she made my deposit for me..after going to the wrong bank first and filling out a slip with my account # on it and them telling her I didn't have an account with them. She asked them to check again and they did. They asked if maybe it was a business account and she said "maybe."

She finally asked ..."This IS Bank of ------" isn't it?" They replied "No , this is Bank of America."
She was across the street from my bank...but HEY, she was within walking distance and that's pretty close!

She is also pretty OCD (I wish Massey had THAT in common with her) she keeps all of her things at work in perfect order and EVERYTHING has to be in it's proper place. She keeps her little "Massey" glasses by the service bar so that she can read tickets when she has to.

One day, I went to the hostess stand and got the grease pencil that they use to mark tables on the floor plan and blacked out both lenses of her specks while she wasn't looking. Then I got some check from a table and asked her if she could read the numbers off to me.

She trotted over to her "Shelf of personal items" and retrieved her specks and put them on.

I think she initially thought she was having a stroke. Both lenses were blacked out and I think she thought her time had come. She moved her head back and forward with no improvement in her vision and finally took the glasses off to see if the room was still there, even if it was fuzzy it would be an improvement.

We all laughed so hard...she laughed even harder. She still brings that up from time to time.

I love both these girls...my Massey for the obvious and my Terri for loving me even though I am rotten.

Good friends make all the difference in a day and all the difference in your life. Thank the Lord I have such good ones.

Til next time...Rotten Cotton

The Little Red Engine That Could...MAYBE!!

One of my favorite people at work is a young Irish gentleman.
In his early twenties (as most of my co workers are) he is an absolute delight.
He is from a strong family and is a favorite target of mine at work.

Let me tell you the first story I remember about him and it will tell YOU a little bit about him.

He came into work one morning for a day shift. A couple of our guys were tossing a football in the parking lot. As my friend got out of his car, they tossed the football to him. He caught it, tossed it back and went inside to work his lunch shift.

After the shift, one of the servers found their car battery dead. They asked if they could get a jump from someone and of course my Irish friend said that he would be happy to do it.

As he went out to the parking lot, he noticed that his headlights were still on. He commented that he hoped his battery wasn't dead as well.

As he got closer to his vehicle, he hears a humming sound. When he reached his car, he realized the car was still running! He had gotten out of his car to catch the football and had slammed his door shut with the car running, and after his victory catch...had run into the restaurant for his shift...leaving his car idling for three hours while he worked an entire shift. He had idled his car almost out of gas, and became "Our Victim of the Day".

I bet we made fun of him for two weeks before we got tired of it.

A couple of weeks ago, he had the section of tables next to me. He IS a man, so of course his tables always have plates, dirty dishes left on them and it looks like the party just got up and left. My tables at the end of a meal generally have napkins and a fork on them when they leave. (Granted, I have been doing this for over half my life).

I couldn't resist the temptation.

I went over to his table and grabbed a cocktail napkin off the ledge and penned a note ...I wrote "Server smelled bad". I left it on the table and went to hide to watch his expression when he discovered the note.

His face was PRICELESS!!!

Only when he looked up and saw me laughing so hard that I almost wet my pants...did he find me out.

I enjoy torturing him on an almost daily basis. Of course so do most of my cronies.

This past week, my sister sent me an email about a flight attendant friend of hers that was selling "Throws"...you know that thingy that you cover yourself with to stay warm. after reading the email describing this great Christmas present, I opened the picture of the "Throw" to discover a nude picture of a marvelous specimen of the male variety spread eagle, face down (thank you ).

It was too much ammunition to waste.

I asked my "LIL" Irish friend...who happens to be over six feet tall...what he was getting his girlfriend for Christmas??

He said he just didn't know, so I told him I would email a GREAT idea for a gift that my sister had sent me...A "CHRISTMAS THROW".

He seemed really receptive, and I told him he only had two more days to order one.

I had to call him two times to remind him to open his email, and both times, he said "Thanks sweetie...I'll be sure to look".

By this time, everyone in the restaurant knew what I had done.

We waited with baited breath for him to open his email from me.

I got a text from him last night..."NO, I will NOT be getting this for her"!!


I only pick on the people I love, and I truly do love him.

He is one of the nicest most sincere people that I have ever met.

He is just still "such a boy"...of course I am 48 so he IS a boy to me.

He is so much fun to pick on, and seeing his Irish face go beet red when I get him with a zinger is priceless.

I haven't seen him since the "THROW" debacle, but be assured, his face will be beet red again and will have a few choice words for me!

Another fave of mine is for all of us older servers to tell him to go onto the patio (a banquet room that we have as an offshoot of of main dining room) and tell him that we will call him when we need him. (Just giving ourselves more tables)

He will look out at us, and one of us "OLE" farts will holler..."DID WE CALL YOU OUT HERE YET"??

He tucks back into the room, and probably thinks to himself..."I hope they call me out there soon".

He puts up with me and all the "OLE" farts and takes it pretty well...although by this point he is probably in therapy thanks to us!

He is a joy to work with, we fluster him to death, pick on him non stop...and you know what? I think deep down, he likes it!!

He'll make a GREAT husband one day!!

His actual name is RYAN. We have tagged him with "CRYAN"..."TRYAN" and probably four other names.

My hat is off to him for still loving me after all the enjoyment I have had tormenting and teasing him.

I told him that I was going to buy him a tee shirt with a bulls eye on it, because he is my favorite target.

Yes, I work with a young, eclectic and varied bunch. But you know what? THEY are keeping ME young!!! (At least I hope so).

Til next time..COTTON

Stripping Wallpaper... WHAT A JOY!!!

I think that I would rather BE a stripper than to have to take wallpaper down.

I have been working for over a week just to strip the paper from around the top of the shower of my kid's bathroom.

When I first started, my two younger kids said "take it all down"!!

Thank goodness I don't listen to them much!!

I have tried home remedies, "DIF" the wonder product for taking paper down easy, fabric softener, hot water...and a lot of cussing.

The one thing that I have realized is that when something DOES work, it takes the taping of the sheet rock off, a LOT of the actual sheet rock and a bare minimum of the actual wallpaper.

My wall that I have finally completed looks like it has acne scars.

Pockets so deeply dug into the walls, missing layers of sheet rock, patches of wallpaper glue...and the scars of me unrelentingly forcing the damn scraper that advertised "The Only One That Works".

If ONLY my sister, who can "WISH" wallpaper away was not sick, I could go on to patching up my scars, dents and obvious mistakes.

I am beginning to think she may have "faked" her cold.

Because if I had to look at the mess and destruction I have done in (thankfully my kid's bathroom) I would fake an illness too.

It is a total mess...it is a nightmare that I try to avoid.

I made tremendous progress tonight (Thank you Coors Light).

I alternated between fabric softener, "DIF", hot water and cleaning my scraper every five minutes.

I will NEVER EVER put wallpaper up in my house again.

We bought our house as a new home, and they obviously did not treat the walls before putting up the wallpaper.

I wouldn't be nearly as concerned as I am, if not for the fact that I have 25 people coming over for Thanksgiving, and the kid's bathroom is used frequently when we have a lot of people over.

I have thought maybe I can lock my dogs in the bathroom, and say "OH..Don't go in there, the dogs are in there".

Hopefully, Cin will be miraculously healed by tomorrow and will help me Spackle, re tape and sand the walls...and I can have the walls repainted (NO PAPER) by the time that my avalanche of company arrives on Thursday.

If not... We may start the bloody marys early and hope that no one notices what a wreck my bathroom is.

I know that it won't bother anyone like it will bother me, but with the task of Thanksgiving at hand for over twenty people...I don't want to have to worry about the mess that I have made with the help of so many products that have deemed themselves so "Spectacular...Amazing..The ONLY one that works."

If they are THAT SPECTACULAR...come on over and cook my turkey for me too!!

As I write this in frustration and jest...I hope that EVERYONE has a great Thanksgiving, and is surrounded by love and people that mean the most to them.

And if you can't fit into either of those categories...

Feel free and totally welcome to come to MY HOUSE...You are MOST welcome to come (you may not want to come back) but you will be an honored guest at our table....Just don't go into the upstairs bathroom...Unless my sister makes a rapid recovery!!

To my family, to my friends and to my limited readers...

Happy Thanksgiving... make the best of your life and your situation... and always know that if you need help... Thanks to a huge turnout from the voices ...It is ON THE WAY.

Of course this is only my opinion.

Til Next time...Cotton

Here Comes the Bride !!

I gave a co worker a wedding shower at work on Monday.

She is biting the bullet on Saturday to marry her "baby daddy". I wonder if that word will make it into the dictionary soon? It seems to be a pretty commonly heard word these days...but at least she is turning him from that in into the REAL daddy!

She is a dear sweet woman who has made her life into something good and has turned a hard childhood into a working adulthood ...adding a college degree and working on another.

I can't go to the wedding on Saturday because I am working and took too much time off to go to Biloxi to play with my husband for our anniversary (hence the shower).

I must say I outdid myself... Lasagna, garlic bread, caesar salad, champagne punch, spinach dip and a cake. (Do I know how to get out of feeling bad about missing a wedding or WHAT)????

I call her my chubby little friend... but of course with me weighing 105lbs that means most of my friends are "chubby". She has lost a lot of weight and is looking and feeling good about herself and her future.

Getting married is NOT going steady. It is not just living in the same house. It is making a life long commitment... as they say "for better or for worse". In my opinion, too many couples seem to miss that part of the vows.

It won't always be a bed of roses...well maybe for the first year, while you are still unpacking wedding presents and loving your "honey moon" stage.

I have been with my husband for over twenty years. We have had good times, great times, okay times and really bad times. I will admit that before he took me on this last trip, I had fallen into a funk. I was tired of doing everything around the house, taking care of the kids and house...all the while working six days a week. Of course he never demanded that I do those things, I just naturally took it upon myself to try to be a super woman.

After we came home from Biloxi...we had a fight. Not a fist fight...my husband would never raise a hand to me in a million years. But I spewed off with my big mouth. I felt that although we had gone on this trip, it was with two other couples, and I felt that for one time in twenty years, I just wanted something to be JUST ABOUT ME! I wanted to be the princess...I wanted to be in his spotlight. I wanted to feel special. The weekend had been spent in the casinos and partying with the other four people, and I just wanted to feel like he hadn't given up on me as being the focus of his heart and soul.

Our actual anniversary was on Monday after we returned from Biloxi on Sunday night. After replacing the screens on the house, and fixing the garage door that the kids had torn up while we were gone...doing all the laundry, cleaning up after the kids and falling into bed, I instigated the argument.

Little known to me, he came home early from work on Monday (our actual anniversary) and took me to our favorite Italian restaurant. He gave me a beautiful gold bracelet with tiny sand dollars and starfish on it (he knows how I love the beach). And then he dropped the bomb. He gave me a card that simply said Happy Anniversary on the front....and on the inside he had written "I never gave up on you, You just gave up on me".

It was the most poignant thing he has ever said to me... and he was exactly and totally right.

I thought he had just had a good time in Biloxi, and that was the end of our anniversary.

But taking me out...giving me that bracelet...and giving me that card made all the difference in the world to me.

Marriage is a long road, filled with many ruts and potholes. It is a commitment for life.

Sometimes you have to evaluate and sometimes you have to make adjustments.

But it isn't something that you can bail out on or give up on.

After that lovely dinner, and that special gift and card... I felt renewed.

I felt special...I fell in love with my husband all over again.

I could never imagine being with another man. I cannot imagine being without my husband. I cannot even think of anything that could make me happier than being married to Tim.

It hasn't all been roses, and there have been many ruts in the road.

But after twenty years....I feel a satisfaction that I made a wise decision in marrying him, and with staying with him.

Marriage is a lot of work... but if you both work at it, it is so tremendously rewarding that you can not possibly think of your self without thinking of your spouse. You are forever intertwined and I mean this in a good way.

I look at him and I feel so blessed to have a man that loves me with such depth and devotion. (and trust me...it takes a LOT to live with the likes of me)!!

So I wish the same good fortune on my very dear friend. I hope that her future husband realizes what a wonderful woman he has, and treats her accordingly. Because if he doesn't...he can always just be "baby daddy".

But to be man and wife is a blessing that is all too often taken for granted and thrown away at the first sign of trouble.

To work through the problems, seek out answers and solutions, realize mistakes and make up for them...it is all a process that is called "MARRIAGE".

If you stick it out, if you love each other totally and completely... you will find the greatest bliss that you could ever imagine.

There will be bumps in the road, there will be trials and tribulations... but there will be a satisfaction at the end of the day when you realize that you have a partner in your life and someone that loves you just as much as you love them.

Good luck to my dear friend and may she have the wonderful wedding and marriage that she so tremendously deserves.

You have to be in it for the long haul...for the good, the bad , the ugly....and whatever else life may throw your way.

Just remember that now you will always have someone to turn to and someone to lean on and depend on... and in my book that is a pretty awesome thing to have.

I hope that twenty years down the road you are still in love with your husband like I am with mine... TRUST me...it is an AWESOME and powerful feeling to have, and I feel extremely blessed to have it... and to have him love me as well.

Good luck my friend... enjoy the ride and make the most of every moment and day.

Life is short...


Til next time.....COTTON

"SNOT" That I'm Lazy... I've Just Been Sick!!

It started over TWO weeks ago with a scratchy throat, which developed into a sore throat...followed by a week and a half of snot working it's way out of my body...orifice by orifice . It hasn't been pretty... but I still managed to work every day and crash early every night.

I went into work today, when a co worker of mine said she had somethings for my daughter that she had kept when she cleaned her own daughter's room. Our daughters are 3 years apart...PERFECT for "Hand Me Down" syndrome....and we have reaped tons of great clothes, nic nacs and shoes from my wonderful friend.

Tonight she seemed a little hesitant as she took my car key from me to go load the "Treasure".

When I got off from work, I returned to my car to check out my daughter's "LOOT".


The first thing that I saw was a ball of yarn. The second thing that I saw was a door mat that said "CAT HOUSE".

Thank the Lord my three dogs can't read. But unfortunately they can "Smell".


They smelled the kitties that had entered and scratched their razor-like claws across the door mat...swishing their tails so vainly (as cats do...in MY book).

I will have to mail my Mother in law this item, as she genuinely "Lives" in a "CAT HOUSE". (See previous "Cat Whisperer" post).

We netted some good items. but as I remember my friend's hesitation when borrowing my key to load the
"CACHE".... I was reminded of my grand mother...The only grandparent that I ever had .

I had a "Step" grandfather and he was wonderful, but as far as blood relatives..."MEMA" was all that I had.

She stood at least 5'11".

I am 5'4" on an impressive day (when all my checks have cleared the bank and I am feeling pretty proud of myself).

She never learned to drive (another blog ALTOGETHER).

She raised my Mother and my uncle by herself during the Great Depression.

Her husband was a raging alcoholic, and an absentee Father and Husband.

My uncle went on to college ...and my Mother met my Father.

The times at my grand mother's on my mother's side are a sincerely and blissful memory.

My Mother took care of not only her new husband's bedridden mother and grand mother, but her husband and kids and did a MOST spectacular job and never complained or thought it a burden.

My paternal grandparents had all died by the time that I can even recollect being on this earth.

My Mother's mom is a different situation all together.

Every Sunday, it seemed like they would come to our house for dinner...after which my "PAPA" would remove himself to my parent's bed for a nap after lunch.

PAPA was a huge man, drove a tank under Patton's command. I remember that he brought back a Nazi flag that my MEMA made into a quilt.

Things like this spring from my earliest memories like no time has passed at all.

After my Mother died, we made the obligatory visit to MEMA...my sister was MUCH more constant than me...but at least I made an impression when I DID show up!! (in MY mind anyway)

Every time that we came into her house, we had fried chicken for lunch, with buttermilk biscuits and whatever "PORK" or red meat was thrown in to spice up the Pole Beans.

After the meal was the usual "Let's see what we have HERE"??

Sometimes it was a treasure, sometimes it was her cleaning out her closets.

I can vividly remember her saying "HONEY, I am just going to throw it away".

I have told my sister time after time after time...."WHY didn't we just LET her throw it away"????

We survived with a lot of memories and a lot of stuff that has been designed to be a family "JOKE".

Exactly WHERE are those pot holders that were framed on one of those squares with the rows and rows of teeth that stick up frantically saying "MAKE ME A PRESENT...YOU'LL SAVE $$$$$" !!!!!

I still have the Christmas card that my Mother gave HER Mother on one Christmas.

I still have pictures, dishes and relics that I wouldn't give a million dollars for.

But to think back to that time... My friend is only doing the same thing that my grandmother did .

Offer up their offering..."TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT" .


Some things I will keep... some things I will ship off to others.

Some things mean NOTHING...

But other things mean the entire world to you.

We discriminate, we decide what is to keep and what is to discard.

In this time of election, in this time of turbulence, in this time of need...



What do we DISCARD and WHAT do we KEEP ???

Till next time.................COTTON

Living the Dream...Even Though it Can Sometimes Be a Nightmare

I have been emailing my Mother's best friend for a few months on a semi regular basis.

My Mother died when I was seventeen...It still can devastate me at any given moment in my life...She was THAT great of a person.

Her best friend is another great person. (My Mom knew how to pick them). I know that I shouldn't capitalize the word "mother"...but in MY book, she is definitely an ALL CAPS TYPE OF WOMAN!!

After my Mother died in August of 1977, I fell into a fog that grew thick around me for about twenty years (at least it seemed that long).

But in December of that same year, my Mom's friend came to take me to see the "Nutcracker" at the fabulous FOX Theatre in Atlanta. It was a wonderful night and when taking me back home,we sat in her car for at least an hour talking, crying and hugging ....and most importantly leaving me with the feeling that my Mom had left me in quite capable hands.

We spoke rarely after that, only at get-togethers, weddings and unfortunately funerals.

Sometimes I felt jealous that this woman still had all three of her girls and a husband to boot. Why couldn't I be SO lucky?

In the past few months of emails and a marvelous visit to her house one Sunday, I realized what she had on what I considered her "Silver Platter." Her husband ...her sweetheart...her soul mate, was fading away from her...she had gone from girlfriend to wife to mother, a grand mother...and back to a mother. She is the primary care giver to her husband. He has suffered a heart attack, Diabetes, memory loss, and the ability to drive a car.

She coddles him and corrects him...she is the total reason that he can live in the comfort of their home and enjoy what little peace he can sometimes find and can always have at his disposal whenever it will come to his welcome mind.

Growing old isn't easy...I can attest to that fact only being in my late forties. But the total immense feeling of love and most definite admiration for this woman absolutely bowl me over.

She still looks amazing, dresses to the nines and has a better memory than mine (and I pride myself on my memory). She is as sharp as a tack...and has even let me call her "MOM" in my emails to her.

Maybe that is why God took my Mom so early...so I wouldn't have to watch any demise of the GRAND vision that I had of her. Maybe that is why God took my Dad so quickly...he knew that my Mother wasn't there to take care of him. Maybe that is why my Mother's best friend is here...fully aware, full of life...able to take care of her husband and to take care of me.

She has been handed quite a load and has handled it most magnificently. Her husband will most probably last many more years (If my prayers do ANY good)...but even if he doesn't...thanks to her it has been a dignified, happy and content life... and one that he wouldn't change one bit.

She is a saint in my eyes and a MOTHER in my heart. Like I said before...my Mom could "Pick"Em".

So I have lost both of my parents; that IS a tragedy... but this family is helping their Dad have the best love care and devotion that a family can provide. I can see the love in his eyes...I can see the ole "GLINT" in his eye when he talks to me.

What I will always see is a family that is more my own that they would probably like. They are my back up, they are my saving grace on this Earth.

The memories and recollections are too vast and numerous...they flood my mind like a a bitter sweet swollen river...let the waters of my time with them always wash over me like a cool refreshing memory of childhood and my lifetime of knowing and loving these special people in my life.

You never know what the next year may bring...advancement in technology, miraculous improvements or just the smiling face of GOD telling us it will be OK...or not.

But you know what? We will deal whatever hand we are dealt. Do we really have a choice?

This woman, this friend of mine...is an inspiration to me. She is up for the battle and she is there for the fight. I hope...no I KNOW , that her husband knows that he is the luckiest man on Earth. I feel fortunate to come in right behind him, his daughters and the grandkids. Right now it feels like one lucky place to be... IN HER HEART! My gracious thanks go out to her...and to my Mom for knowing where to leave me. Till next time....COTTON