More Stories of Home...

So I promised more stories of the South…well, the South for me anyway. Anything south of Demotte is pretty much The South for me. (that’s because the people are nicer)

I loved going to church Sunday morning and realizing that I am related to about 80 of the 100 people there…and then it only took 40 minutes. And while looking at the pew with my cousin and her husband in it, I realized that of the 6 kids in the row, they came from 5 different sets of parents, because people are all about trading kids for the weekend. And how the priest shut off all the lights while my family was inside talking after Mass and told my aunt, “Just lock the door on your way out.”

I loved how we spontaneously decided to pick up my sick aunt and take her out for lunch…and even though it was my aunts and uncles and my parents, they insisted that Workaholic and I come along. (guess they like having the young ‘uns around) (on that note, I also love how we don’t talk about what is actually wrong with sick people in the family…because really, who needs to know their family medical history anyway??) (my dad once had surgery and we forgot to tell one of my sisters...Santa brought us coal the next Christmas...let that be a lesson to you kids out there!!)

I loved how at lunch, they immediately started talking politics, and no one kept their voice down when saying politically incorrect things, such as “That Obama’s whole family is Muslim!” Which meant I didn’t have to keep my voice down when I said, “That is just an outright lie! He is a total Christian!” (on a side note, I haven’t decided who I am voting for, and when I do, I highly doubt I will be writing about it here…so you’re welcome for that)

And I also loved how we just laughed about our political differences and moved on to talking about babies and work and family and gossip about the neighbors. Like normal people. And I love the discussion of exactly what the cattle call it is that my uncle uses. (something like "eeeyycav") And how it actually works.

It's a refreshing place to go, see the fam, but sad at the same time, because let's face it, the town has seen better days. It is getting harder and harder for young people to stay and have a career and raise their family. Not to say that they don't do it, but it's getting harder. Maybe that's why Chris didn't know what time zone he lived in.