There are several types of families: Ones you are born into, ones you marry into and ones that you adopt - or in my case - ones that you stick to as if you were bubblegum on their shoes. ~laughter~ am sure there have been times, they are like "she is stuck to our shoes again, didn't you say that peanut butter removes gum"..Oh that is right, that is only if it is stuck in your hair. By the way which one of our children was it that kept getting gum stuck in their hair? *wink*..SO with MUCH LOVE, and humor - sit back and let me tell you about some wonderful people. Oh and where are my manners, let me introduce you to the Patriarch and Matriarch of this large family. Mr and Mrs Thompson, but for those of us in the know, is it Big John and Miss Darlene...Oh and not worry I will introduce you to their children ~ut oh, did one of you get a little nervous in your seat there? Laughter~...
P/S - there are a few of the children I have not met yet, so please forgive if they are not mentioned here.
BIG DISCLAIMER, THIS IS WRITTEN WITH LOTS OF HUMOR, ABEIT, MY KIND OF HUMOR - BUT HUMOR NONE THE LESS. I said that so that those in the family who laugh at my words, and get stared at can say "Well it is not my fault, cheL made me do it"..~laughter~ So sit back, and relax and let me share some insights and stories with you about a family who has opened their hearts to me so many many times.
ALL FAMILIES HAVE GOOD MOMENTS/NOT SO GOOD MOMENTS, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, THE BIG THING IS TO LOOK BACK ON THEM WITH HUMOR IF YOU CAN
So the eldest child of Miss Darlene's and Big John's is named JEFF. Now as a child Jeff indicated early on, a choice of professions. He wishes to be a flying Walenda, a acrobatic circus performer. Now most of you are sitting there saying how can I child as young as 3 or 4, know this? Well we are still not sure, but there was one incident that sticks out clearly in the memory of the family. Jeff took his first solo trapeze act at this age, went right out the window, and not just any window BUT a 2nd story window. And he executed the dismount perfectly apparently since there was not a injury on the wee little tyke. I know that in most cases people would not find this a bit humorous, I do though - because I do not believe he fell out, I believe he chose to fly. There are rumors circulating that he might have had help or a accomplice, but more on that later. -See Henry-....
Oh and the adventure does not stop there, oh No...JEFF was the child that decided to stay at the Gas Station when Mom n Dad loaded up the car with all the kids and came home. Now, what is so damn funny about this is the call that came next "John, this is the gas station - are you missing anything"?...Darlene, did we leave anything at the gas station? sez Big John, no I do not think so, states Miss Darlene til a worry crosses her mind, and quick a head count. OH MY GOD we forgot Jeff. So off they went to go pick up Jeff - now again I should not find this side splitting humorous, but this did happen to large familes often, because you see Parents are not just human but there is only so many times they can here the word ~Mama, I want this, or he touched me or she has that~ til the are one stamp shy of going postal. But as you can see Jeff grew up to be a good man, now we do not discuss his fear of acobatics or why he chooses not to go into the quikie marts at gas stations..~I am teasing JEff~ but we love him just the same, oh and for those of you who read this and do not know - Jeff is a highly accredited Chef, we hope one day he publishes a cook book. ~smile~
Jeff married a lovely lady named TRISHA , she is pictured above with him at Clara's daughter Amanda's graduation. Well Trish comes from a very passionate and exciting Italian heritage, I say this for Trish is a very creative lady. You see she has decided to take on causes of the enviroment, she has decided to help her community in a rural part of Pennsylvania with her own brand of ecology ~Don't fence me in~. You see Trisha mode of choice was to free the boundaries of fences that can stand for isolationist moments by removing a few fence posts with her Van. Now, we are extremely greatful that this daring moment was excuted without any damage to Trisha. Personally I do think it made Jeff loose some hair, but as with men that is not a subject to discuss ~laughter~. But we always admire, Trisha for even the obstacles that God has placed in her path, she moves forward with more passion than many that have no difficulties to over come. It is a lesson to all of us, that with love and the strenght of love you can overcome anything.
but I must admit if I come across that song "traveling tumbleweed or don't fence me in" I will be sending it to trisha cuz it is now something we can laugh about ~wink~
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This is HENRY the 2nd oldest child, now remember me mentioning above a possible accomplice or help in the Jeff flying Walenda matter - well Enter Henry, when they rushed upstairs to see if it really was Jeff that went out the window, they spied Henry - his butt was on the window sil, to this day we are not exactly sure if he helped Jeff with the Launch or if he was just being curious as to this whole flying technique. But moments like these helped define who Henry would be, but more about that in a minute. Here is a not widely known fact, that Henry loved puppy kisses, this fact I must testify was reported by None other than his Sister Bren. How has this affected Henry as a grown up, well his curious nature of how does thing works being displayed at such a young age when Jeff took his 1st flight, has carried on to Henry of today. He enjoys computer repair, working with his hands on projects such as glass carving bascially being inventive and creative. Henry grew up to be someone everyone wishes to call friend, and love being around. Oh and about the puppy kisses, how does that relate to Henry now - it is no longer lassie but: Jane, Carol, Sandy, Danielle and on and on ~laughter~ Not to worry though we know Henry has enough love in his heart to share with all of us.
Okay time here for wiping away the tears of laughter for am sure you are remembering much more than I am stating here, Now I must tell you I am willing to listen to more stories but it makes me laugh as well*smile*
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Now let us talk about girls, Here is CLARA - she is next in line after Henry, but 1st in line of Miss Darlene and Big John's daughters. Clara was a very ingenius little girl, she had to be - with two older brothers such as Jeff and Henry, who teased her and called her Clara-belle, she had to be resillient and resourceful. And I tell you what this is pure genius here - you see as sibling rivarly can happen, sometimes little boys have not learned to keep their hands to themselves yet, in regards to little girls. Or so Miss Darlene and Big John thought, Jeff and Henry were forever getting into trouble for hitting Clara or pinching her, leaving a bit of a mark. No matter what Mom n Dad did, the boys will still picking on Clara, or so everyone thought. Then one day, Miss Darlene caught Clara hitting herself, and instead of saying anything she decided to play that Motherly hunch and find out where this leads to - even though she had a strong inkling as to where. Sure enough, once Clara was satisified with her self application of sibling pain, she ran to tell MOM...But this time MOM knew and the charade was over. I am sure much to Jeff and Henry's relief. But do not despair, Clara held her own against the boys, she did then and she does now. Alot of children growing up, go through what is considered not being connected with our families, and we some how devise in our Little minds, "AM I adopted" - well let me tell you Clara came by the above mentioned Talent, purely by DNA. When her Dad Big John was then was just a boy, his sister Doris used to run to Their Mama and Daddy and say Johnny bit me. Now after several whoopings, and you could not convince them otherwise - it was discovered by Sister Louise, that Doris was biting herself. Right before a punishment was about to happen again, Louise stated loudly that, Johnny could not be the one bitting Doris, There Mom said, why yes he is - and Louise said No, look at the bitemarks Mama, Johnny's teeth are close together, there is no gap. Now Mama look at Doris, she has a gap - and the bite mark on her has a gap. SO you see - Clara came by this naturally...~laughter~. Did this ingenius attitude follow Clara into adulthood it sure did, for many years Clara showed brilliance, but it was not until her passion for ogranizing event such as Karoke, or fund raising did she really blossom. Clara is straight up, she has a inner strenght in her that whether it be family matters/friends or strangers in crisis, you know without a shadow of a doubt when the smoke clears - there will be Clara standing there with her hand n heart out, saying okay ~Let us get this handled~. To share one's strenght without asking for anything in return as Clara does, can only be done by a rare person whose spirit is moved by the Love she has for her family/friends and people in need. Clara believes in the more love you give, the more people it will touch. To that I can only say ~AMEN~.
Let us continue the love, shall we?
