Okay, so while I’m not in total denial that Larry is a little strange, I am a little reluctant to grasp that kind of label as a defining characteristic of myself. “Idiosyncrasies” is a long word and I’m not certain it is a favorable label. That being said, Larry has a kind heart. Consequently, I welcome a comparison that places me in that category. Larry is also funny. I, too, figure it is better to laugh than cry. Consequently, I don’t pass up many opportunities to add levity to the moment by saying something funny that comes to mind in lots of situations.
Some folks (the kind ones) describe my sermons as a good dose of humor filled with spiritual truth. Of course, occasionally a Puritan or two think I’d be better served to stick to the script. Seriously, they are not joking. Sorry, I’m just not a pulpit pounding hell-fire-and-brimstone kind of preacher. I didn’t like being yelled at as a kid and I’m not going to communicate by raising my voice.
I’ve heard lots of Larry stories since the family reunion on Saturday. If my daughter has said it once, she’s said it ten times: “Dad, he is just like you.” She then highlights things he said to her at the family reunion that are identical to the phrases I use or the kinds of statements I make. His mannerisms are also reportedly like watching a video of myself.
Larry even told my daughter that sometimes he is too rough on me in his written responses to my blogs. Consequently, he then feels guilty. Of course, by then it is a little late. He figures if I haven’t made an immediate response to something he’s written on my blog, then I must be mad.
That’s crazy thinking! If I can dish it out, I can also take it! My brother lives in a third world country. He is an Okie. We are not in the same time zone. Seriously, fifty years makes a big difference. I am not bothered when Larry’s thoughts seem a little antiquated or laced with Puritan idealism. He is not going to make me mad!
Please don’t mistaken what I’m saying. I’m using the term “Okie” without any intent of being offensive. I don’t think of the term as anything other than a term of endearment describing folks who live north of the Red River. I am fortunate to have many loved ones who are both family and friends in the great state of Oklahoma. They are good people. They are bright people. They are educated people. They enrich my life.
Some folks mistakenly use the term “Okie” as something other than complimentary. Take Arizona for instance, reportedly in Arizona an “Okie” is a person with ‘a pee-stained mattress on top of his car,’ and an ‘Okie credit card’ is a siphon hose and gas can”. Never – never in a hundred years would I think any of those things are true of my friends and family in Oklahoma. That’s just not right! I was simply joking about the fifty-year-time differential. Of course, some folks would see that as a compliment. Fifty-years ago is what I endearingly refer to as the “good old days”.
Did I mention that Larry’s wife and my wife have also compared notes? Apparently, the die is cast. They, too, think Larry and I are just alike. That’s not to say the two of them see the qualities they’ve identified in us as being overly complimentary. The term “clueless” is seldom seen as a virtue. To be described as someone who lives “in their own little world” falls dramatically short of how either of us see ourselves.
One of the similarities Larry and I share has to do with our choice of wife. We both married well, but somehow wound up with wives who are “independent thinkers”. Both wives see their role as serving as a check-and-balance system to keep us in line. Are you kidding me? I don’t need that kind of structure. Larry may, but I don’t.
I guess if there is a theme song the General and my sister-in-law share, it has to be: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”. Trust me, they could have it a lot worse. It wasn’t until this weekend that I fully understood that Larry’s wife is identical to the General. She told the story of one of their tiffs in the early years of marriage that I thought was hilarious.
They were living in Seminary housing. Larry was both a student and employed part time at Sears. She worked fulltime in downtown Fort Worth. They were living the dream. The two of them reportedly got into some kind of conflict and Larry hurt her feelings by yelling at her one morning before she went to work. She saw his behavior as the highest level of disrespect. Consequently, she stayed mad all day. At the end of the workday, her feelings were still hurt, so she decided just not to go home.
Consequently, she opted to go to the movie. It was probably not the best choice of conflict resolution techniques. Her choice of movies was “Paper Moon”. It fell a little short of a “feel good” movie. Few movies about the depression era seemingly boost one’s spirits. According to the review: “This one opened with a little girl at the funeral of her mother on a windswept plain. Her mother (we learn from an old photograph) was a flapper of the worst sort, but Addie is a tomboy in overalls and a flannel shirt. At the last moment, an old car comes tattling up and discharges one Moses Pray, con man, alleged bible salesman and just possibly Addie’s father. He promises to deliver the child to relatives in St. Joe, mostly so he can collect $200 in blackmail money”.
My sister-in-law must have been really mad because she watched the movie twice. She then drove around Fort Worth until she determined she had no choice but to go home. It was near midnight. Of course, Larry was still sitting at the dinner table where he had set the table with their best dinnerware. He had even set the table with a tablecloth. The meal he had prepared was still on the stove. The roses in the vase looked a little droopy because he forgot to add water six hours earlier. He was worried sick.
Okay, so the ending I crafted to my sister-in-law’s story isn’t exactly the way she told the story. But, I figure if Larry and I are just alike, it would be in my best interest to tell the story differently from the version she used.
All My Best!
Don