Another funny quality that I know about myself

by Jennie Reish.

I can hear a narrator inside my head telling the story of my life as it moves along. I never realized that other people don't live this way. Its true, I attribute this to almost 6 years as an only child. Well that, and I might be a teensy bit overdramatic. I feel almost as if my life is a dramedy and I am the star. I say dramedy only because I tend to get a little melancholy (Jeff's word) sometimes and the story of my life sounds sad but somehow heroic at the same time. (this is my own mind, remember) Yet the rest of my life is all about slapstick comedy that makes me laugh out loud at myself sometimes, and thus a happy ending most of the time.


In my mind, I see myself walking in slow-mo all the time with my hair gently blowing around me with the help of an invisible wind machine. I am fairly certain no one else sees me like this, unfortunately, but you can be sure if you catch me bobbing my head with a dreamy look on my face I am feeling the wind in my hair and the soundtrack to my life is on "play". Which leads me to this nostalgic mood tonight. (Beatles "my life" playing in the background.)

Today is the day after my best friend Mindy's birthday. Her birthday is July 16th. (it took me a while to publish this) When we were younger, I remember thinking Mindy would turn 16 on the 16th. I am just weird like that. Numbers always seem coincidental to me. I do mean coincidental only to me. I fear an explanation of my number thought patterns to those who might still be on the fence over my sanity could really swing the vote over to certifiable. As it is, my husband has taken to calling me Rainman. Anyhoo...

My point is that Mindy and I have shared many birthdays, (long-distance-ly) but the one that always reminds me it's her birthday is her 16th. There is no one that I have been friends with longer. In junior high and highschool we would call each other first thing in the morning to discuss the all-important school day attire. Then an hour later we would ride to school together and meet Vanessa at the locker we all shared. We had at least 4 of our 6 classes together. Our teachers really appreciated that. After school when we weren't hanging out at her house we talked on the phone. At this point you might be concerned for Mindy's safety. :) But the point is, we never ran out of things to talk about. Really!

Now many years later our lives have changed dramatically. We are both married with kids but as I realized today we still can spend hours on the phone. When she calls I get carried away, forget time and place, and pray my kids can stomach one more Barney movie. Though the topics have changed slightly, the thread that remains the same, is the fact that it could be yesterday or 3 weeks ago when we last talked, we always just seem to pick up where we left off, like we have been having the same conversation for the last 17 years just punctuated by time and circumstance. Our friendship hasn't just stood the test of time, it has grown and evolved and stayed wonderfully familiar at the same time.

My friendships are so valuable to me and I have a feeling all the good ones stemmed from my first best friend. Thanks Mindy you continue to inspire me everyday. Please know you are in my thoughts even on the days when we don't have 2 hours to talk!

Jesus said in John 15: 12-13 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

A Stones Throw Away

I have never been accused of being reasonable. Sometimes my thoughts sound twisted inside my own head. Yes its true and if you already know this about me this story probably will not surprise you in the least. Anyway...

Today Hayley had her little friend Aiden over for a bit while his mama ran to the store. The back story on Aiden is that Hayley is married to him. I explained all the reasons why that could pose a problem later but she won't budge. Therefore Aiden and Hayley are at least for the time being Husband and wife. Anyway I went to check on them. They get along very well so I had a smile on my face when I got outside in anticipation of the sweet antics of my little angel and her beau. Just then that little angel picked up a rock and hucked it over the fence, before my mind could even register what my eyes had just seen!!! I was horrified and when Hayley saw my face she immediately tried to grovel.

I was not hearing any of it. I grabbed her hand and all but flew over to our next door neighbor's house, listening the whole way to my angel beg me to release her from this natural consequence. I would not be deterred. Mr. Harding would listen to my weepy daughter explain that she had thrown rocks over the fence and was so very sorry. With a little coaching, she asked for forgiveness and promised, in her saddest voice, never to throw anything over the fence again. You could tell Mr. Harding would have loved to tell her it was not a big deal, but thankfully he just granted forgiveness and thanked Hayley for confessing.

So here is the unreasonable part of the story. After we got home, and I had time to calm down enough to reflect. I was strangely proud of my little angel. You may already know, but Hayley is verrrrrrry shy. I believe, because of my own fears, I wanted to cushion everything in Hayley's world when she was little. It wasn't until Lilly was born that I realized how resilient children are and how I couldn't save my kids from everything that might potentially hurt them. Sometimes that knowledge hurts a little. Which brings me to the reason property damage made me proud.

I thought about the fact that even though she was shaking in her Hello Kitty flip-flops. She did it, she walked across the yard to face whatever punishment lie in store for her. It was pretty inspiring really. You see, when Hayley sticks her neck out there it is never done with out apprehension. I am in awe of her courage. She may scream her head off at even the thought of any winged beast (wasp, bee, or fly) but when it counts, she musters up everything she can to make it right. I love her so much.