I'm Thinking

I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm remembering.

Remember when Marc was playing in the "big" basketball game at Northeast High School, by then Northeast was practically all black students, and in the heat of the game the fans started yelling "pass it to the white guy."

Remember when Marc hauled off and kicked the electric fence and it shocked him and that made him so mad he hauled off and kicked it again, and again, and again. Every time he kicked, it shocked. I guess you won that battle Marc. The fence is gone and you are still here.

Remember when Christian smashed his hand in the watermelon patch. How do you get a smashed hand in a watermelon patch.

I remember taking Nora to a dinosaur movie, can't remember the name, for what ever reason Julia didn't go and I was in charge of Nora. Two-thirds of the way through the movie when it looked like the mama had died Nora started wailing, loudly, very loudly, "BUT I DON'T WANT THE MAMA TO DIE" her little fists beating me as though it was my fault and I could undo it. I failed Nora that day. Sorry Nora.

Remember when Chuck brought his race car to the big family reunion and forty kids were getting their picture taken at the wheel and Chris didn't know what to protect first, his proprietary interest in his dad or his race car.

Remember when we took all the little boys to see the second largest truck in the North American Hemisphere. All of them standing in the hub of the tire. The tires as big as a garden shed and the truck as big as an apartment building.

I'm thinking of the July 4th we invited the traveling family in the lone car out on the roadway to join us for food and fireworks. How happy it made mother that their little girl was named Amber.

Or the summer afternoon that we had the french fry feast. Dad brought out the cast iron cauldron, a fire was built by somebody, and we ate fresh vegetables and french fries until dusk. Come to think of it that was the day Christian smashed his hand in the watermelon patch. And we invited the lone biker out on the roadway to join us for food. Was he trying to bike across America or go around the world? That I don't remember.

Remember Patches.

How about the time I visited Oklahoma with only short shorts and no brassieres. I was invited to church, so preteen Cathy fitted me out with a dress and a bra. Thanks Cathy for preserving your Auntie's dignity.

Remember the Christmas Breakfast where at the end of a long eventful day an exhausted two year old Andrew brought me his lone pink jelly bean covered in fuzz and snot and gave it to me as a pink offering. He knew no one alive would enjoy a pink "thing" more than his Aunt Jan. Thanks Andrew.

Once at the big reunion Ian stole someones sparkly shoes from the play ground. He almost made a clean getaway.

I'm thinking due to the health issues in the family lately, I will make a New Year's resolution to get my myself sorted. The better able to take care of myself so I can live another day and enjoy the family. A new crop is growing, maybe even better than the last.