Happy Hour

1 for 3. doing appointments in San Antonio yesterday and 1 out of 3 people actually did not cancel. Nice.

So instead of griping and complaining, unusual for me, I ate lunch with my mom and grandma (Happy). I realized how long it's been since I've sat down with family and it wasn't at a reunion or holiday. It was like coming home from college and sleeping in your own bed.

The warm fuzzy feelings soon turned to chagrin as my mom starts telling bra stories and then Happy intros a story with: "Jason, this might embarass you..." So I decided it was time to get a refill.

When I get back, Happy tells me about how her and Papa (pronounced Paw-Paw) went out dancing the other night...at an old folks home! Both of them are in 70's and in great shape, so how did they end up dancing a jig with the artificial hip crowd?
Answer: They went to a funeral.

Yeah, they went across town to a funeral and when they got there and said who they were there to see, the director told them that they were a day late. "Oh we know that he has already passed away, we're here for the funeral." Director unammused, "Exactly, You missed the funeral by a day."
So my grandparents, decide to go see a friend of theirs that plays in a band and that band has a weekly gig at this old folks home.

Only my grandparents start the night off going to a funeral and end up boot scootin' with geriatrics.

I've been noticing a trend and it seems like Happy and Papa are always going to funerals and nursing homes to visit. Granted it's because a greater number of people that they know are passing away, but sometimes it's for people that they really aren't that close to. I have 2 theories on this.

1. As people age, death becomes more real and aging is an unescapable reality. In order to cope with the innate fear and other emotions that would acccompany this realization, people spend more and more time getting acquainted with the process. Like a young couple driving through neighborhoods looking at homes or befriending a couple with young kids so that they can peer into their own future and see what's down the road. A catharthic measure of sorts.

2. An unconscious piling up of karma. By visiting people in their old age, they envoke a what-goes-around-comes-around cycle and they will in turn receive visitors to their old folks dances and ultimately fill the pews at their funeral...as long as everybody shows up on time. (texas cooking does not condone nor endorse any beliefs in karma)

Of course, my grandparents are the most loving and unselfish people I know and really my thoughts are a projection of my own manipulative nature. As a kid, any time I visited Happy, we would always visit the older people she knew and bring them some kind of gift. the greatest gift of course was her time and indellible smile.

I guess the only question I still have is when old folks do the electric slide does it involve greasing the wheels on their motorized wheelchairs?