Family time...Happiness Day 7

While my profile picture on facebook is the "Greatest Profile Picture" EVER!!!, the following story and picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

 
A while back, when Grandmother on my mom's side was turning 85, we had a small family get together at her house in Shreveport, LA.  It was a great time.  Many of the people in my family I hadn't seen in let's say 10 years.  Many of my cousins will tell you all about how cute and adorable I was as a child.  Great.  What happened in those 10 years was awesome.  You see, I'm the 2nd youngest in the family rank of cousins.  #6 in your program, but #1 in your heart.  First is J IV or James the Fourth.  Then comes the "Three from '73."  That's Amy, Anne, and David.  Then comes Tim, Me and last but not least Adele.

I  couldn't tell you the last time I saw any of my cousins.  I had barely seen much of my brother since he went to college and I left for Missouri.  When I went to college, I went a little crazy with the rebellious looks since I was from a military family.  Always clean cut and such.  Not any more.  I love this story from when I landed.

First off, my mother, brother, grandmother, and Aunt Catherine came to pick me up from the airport.  As I walked down the terminal, I noticed my family.  They did not notice me, at all.  Then I saw my brother start to laugh and snicker.  At that point, the eyes on the rest of the group started to grow and then it was all smiles and love for my arrival.  You see, I hadn't cut my hair since the Superbowl that year, when many of my fraternity brothers had been giving me a hard time.  I had also shaved it bald as a pledge.  These were two crazy extremes that I had never ventured with before.  It was awesome.

When I got to the house, we said our hellos and then I had to run upstairs for a little bit to relax from the travel.  Well, all of the sudden the door rings and here comes my father and sister all the way from Mississippi (they had been in Alexandria, La visiting my other Grandmother) to stop by and say hello and with my Grandmother a happy birthday. (My parents have been divorced since I was like 6 months old).  It was a sudden surprise, but a great one.  My dad hadn't seen me, David, or Sarah together at one time in a long, long time.  Or when all of us were young adults.  You should have seen his face when I appeared.  Oh wait you can:

I'm sure the first thing my dad was thinking was, "Is this my son?  What the hell happened to him?"  Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.  I'm the ginger in the family.  While there have been others that have been added, I'm the original.  Look at the surprise on his face.  It's an awesome picture.  We then got one of the three Grimes kids with our Dad. (The picture got wet a long time ago, but there we all are.)

So back to the story of the great family photo.  At one point the only people in the house were my Aunt Catherine and Uncle Roy, Grandmother, my Mom and Dad, and the three siblings....and then it all broke loose.  I was using the phone in the corner calling my roommates back in Missouri to let them know that I made it okay. My cousin Amy then walked by me and said hello and looked away.  I replied with a "Hi Amy."  She looked at me funny for a couple of seconds and then gave that gasped, hand over mouth, eyes wide expression that I was somewhat used to.  I thought it was funny.  She still remembers this kid.



(I'm so getting killed for putting this picture up.  That's Amy behind me.)

Instead of this lovely young man, I showed up looking like the previous picture.  After she realized who I was, we all laughed.  Then, the doorbell rang and I went to answer it.  I opened the door and the lady and husband at the door looked at me surprised and then apologized for they thought they had the wrong door.  I looked at them and said "Aunt Elizabeth, you're at the right house."  That's her above in the picture as well.  They gave me the same look as Amy and laughed and came inside.  Everyone else in the family, the story goes along the same way.  But those three always stick out to me the most.

That weekend was so much fun.  I got to reconnect to my cousins in a manner that I never knew before.  We told stories and laughed.  We watched the older ones hang out with their kids.  We all drank and drank the next day.  We all told lies and laughed.  My favorite lie is the story of how I ran my cousin Tim over with the riding lawn mower.  They say it's true, but I don't remember it happening. (Love you Tim.)

We all got together on the last day to take family pictures.  All the parents.  And then the grandchildren together.  Then the individual families together.  It was a so much fun.  In the process, this awesome picture was taken.  You see, I'm kind of a clown.  Either that or I have impeccable timing.  We were all lined up in a row from youngest to oldest and we all smiled.  Then we had to take another one.  This one I timed perfectly.  Here it is:



(Adele, Me, Tim, David, Anne, Amy, and J IV)

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.  It reminds me of part of my family that I miss.  We got together years ago and it was fun.  Tim even made this picture his profile picture on facebook. That's a great honor and I'll take it.  I told you before, I live out there on the edge and these are the things that I like to do.  I can't wait for the next reunion.  I can't wait for something random to happen again.

You know you love this movie!!...Happiness Day 6

"My dad say's I'm the best french kisser in the 8th grade."

Sorry for the delay on writing, but I love this movie.  This movie reminds me a lot of my dad when I was a kid.  Not that he was Clark Griswald, but whenever my brother and I would go visit him, we always got thrown into the car for a family trip.  My brother, sister, and I would all be squeezed in the back seat or we were all put in the big family van (you know the kind with theater seats) and go on some trip somewhere.  Mostly it was during my Dad's time in Alabama, but whenever I see this movie it makes me think of my time with my dad.  We used to live overseas off base in Germany.  While there was no TV like there is today, we did have nothing but video tapes of movies gallore.  This was one of my favorites.

From the moment that Clark gets the Family Truckster to riding the rides at Wally World, this is the best vacation movie ever.  There are a billion lines worth remembering.  There are a ton of side characters that make you laugh throughout.  You can't go wrong watching Vacation.  Ever.

Happiness Challenge (Day 2)...A Picture says a Thousand Words (more or less)

Running Up That Hill - Chromatics by ericfuentes



Today's moment of happiness comes from a picture on my computer.  It's actually my background and anytime someone sees it, they ask how I got it?  Who took it? and Where was I?  Every time I look at it, I see more and more about the people involved each time.



Here it is:

The first thing that I see every time my computer is turned on is this picture.  When most people see it, they automatically ask me a lot of questions about it.  What makes me happy about it is that I get to brag a lot about someone who is important in my life, my brother David.  You see, as awesome as this picture is, there is more to it than I realized.  I've spent many a day with a professional talking about a lot of things.  While I read a lot into meaningless things, I'm happy that I can take a lot out of important things.

This picture was taken on a trip in Oregon during my birthday.  My mother, brother, and myself went and had a wonderful time on the Oregon coast.  The location was at Devil's Churn, OR.  It was a perfect trip and perfectly timed for that moment in my life.  That is a talk for another time, today is about a picture that makes me smile.

What I love about this picture is that I see both my brother and myself in it.  Growing up, my brother was the coolest person I knew.  He was older, so what do you expect.  He had the coolest friends, Ryan and Jarrett.  They were into the coolest music and books and about has hip as you could be without being labeled a hipster (a word that didn't exist then).  David played the piano and I took lessons as well.  He was way better than I could ever be.  He was into the arts and had roles in the Jr. High and Sr. High School plays.  He was the lead in all that I remember seeing.  Ponyboy in "The Outsiders" and the Dad in "Cheaper By the Dozen."  He dabbled in drawing and was into photography.  As an adult, he has continued to excel in the use of his camera, but mostly for family time (that I see).

What I always see in this picture is the person that my brother helped become the man I am today.  If you notice, I'm out in the water and about to get splashed on by the waves.  David was always slightly pushing me to the boundaries of my comfort growing up, mostly cause I was the tag-a-long little brother.  Eventually, I was able to learn where my comfort zone was.  It happens to be way out there.  I'm the risk taker, with no showing fear of what is unexpected.  That is what I see in the picture.  It reminds me that I'm the crazy one who will go out there and do the different, awesome things.  I get asked if I got wet in the picture.  Yes, I did.  But it was worth it.  When you live on the edge, it's always worth it.  My brother was always a protector of me, even when he couldn't.  To me, this picture is a sign that I'm safe out there where he can't protect me and he's okay with that.  This picture shows that he knows how to get someone to willingly (albeit, through peer pressure) to step a little closer to the edge of themselves.

I get amazed when I look at this every time I turn on my computer.  I wonder why I was so stupid to go out there.  Then I remember how much I was laughing while it was happening.  How I tried to make myself look like a kind of stoic man, not afraid of nature but standing defiantly in front of it. (Actually, I was yelling at the waves like an idiot becuase I like to clown around sometimes).  How much my brother and I are alike.  Crazy.  Idealistic.  Quiet.  Somewhat brooding.  If you put us out of our element, we adapt and make it our own.  If you put us in our element, we shine.  If you put us together, you don't stand a chance.


I don't see my brother really anymore.  He lives in Oregon with his wife, Kyna, and daughter, Sydney.  The three of them are unbelievable and I love them very much.  They fit my brother very well.  My brother was always on the edge of what's next when we were growing up.  I was playing catch up, but not really because I guess I was already out there to begin with.  That's why this picture makes me happy.