Comic Relief

I interrupt my thoughts on death with a glimpse of my family in their underwear.

Suelaza wrote me in an email a while back the following:
"The first time I went to the Hanna household on a Sunday afternoon, everyone, everyone, Mr., Mrs., Billy Carl, Glory, David and Catherine were in their UNDERWEAR. It was one of life's strangest moments but obviously not that shocking because I kept going back."

Dad putting on the BVDs!

Billy Carl and Glory on laundry day.

Glory Baby Dave with what appears to be a wedgy.

Catherine Camille

Thomas Guthrie

You might be thinking it is no big deal running around in your underwear when you are just a mere babe. But the sad truth is, we never stopped.

Once while out of town, Carlene stayed at my house to babysit the cats. When I called her she told me the pastor came over. The FIRST question out of my mouth was, "Mom, did you have your clothes on?"

And just a few short weeks ago, I got caught in my front yard wearing boxer shorts and a tank top.

Preparing for Heaven in 2007

Preparing for Heaven in 2007 is my motto, mantra, mission statement, for the year. I don't know exactly what that means, but it is something I want to do.

My sweet Aunt Barbara died a few months ago. She was sick a long time and died at Carlene's house under hospice care. Barbara Lou had made all the necessary arrangements so when that fateful day came all Mom had to do was make one phone call. The funeral home came and got her, cremated her and then mailed her "cremains" to her daughter in Alabama. Done!

Well except for one thing, all the crap she left behind. They emptied her storage unit and now it fills the room at Mom's house that Barbara use to live in.

So preparing for heaven to me means throwing away my crap today. If you begin thinking like this you will see that your house is filled with STUFF that just takes up space. George Carlin has a great perspective on how we place such importance on our "STUFF". (For all you 20 somethings reading this, George Carlin was a famous comedian in the late 60's and early 70's. You can see him on www.youtube.com)

When Glory came to visit in November she noted that I was a project starter but not a finisher. I know that. But in preparing for heaven in 2007 I feel I need to finish the projects I have started around the house.

I need to make lists of what needs to be done with my left overs after I am gone. I think the term for that is Last Will and Testement. I need to squander my money so that I have nothing to leave my family and friends but my house. Who wants my house, it comes with a dog and 11 cats?

Don't worry, I'm not dying soon but I think about it a lot. My current goal is to out live my pets.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Ps. 139

Wimsical?

If you go back and read the last comment on the post "Party Dog" you will see that my friend Denise wants me to write something "witty and entertaining".

I could do that, but I would rather write about death. So to start, here is a poem by Billy Collins (my favorite). I can identify with what he writes and I think it is witty and entertaining.....what do you think Denise?

My Number

Is Death miles away from this house,
reaching for a widow in Cinncinati
or breathing down the neck of a lost hiker
in British Columbia?

Is he too busy making arrangements,
tampering with air brakes,
scattering cancer cells like seeds,
loosening the wooden beams of roller coasters

to bother with my hidden cottage
that visitors find so hard to find?

Or is he stepping from a black car
parked at the dark end of the lane,
shaking open the familiar cloak,
its hood raised like the head of a crow,
and removing the scythe from the trunk?

Did you have any trouble with the directions?
I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this.

Thomas Guthrie

O.K. let's face it, the 60's were not a good time for the Hanna family. Everyone of us (Carlene, Bill, Glory, David, Catherine and Thomas) can stop and recall countless MAJOR events that happened during those years that has had a lasting effect on how we live in the present.

The "Norman Rockwell" family portrait was on the verge of disintegration, but right before it did Thomas Guthrie was born on this day in 1965. Tom was born into chaos and has lived in chaos his whole life.

Tom, if I were to give you a gift for your birthday it would be the gift of bravery: bravery to battle the demons within, bravey to be real about the issues that keep tripping you up, and bravery to let go of the fact that your family fell apart long before you could do anything to stop it.

Happy Birthday and next year lets eat cake!

Party Dog!

I got my dog in May of 2003 off the streets of Corpus Christi. Her leg was broken and the vet said it had been that way for a whole month, but if you would like to read about the whole story, please click on the link at the right titled: Cookie Belle.

In May of 2003 the vet said she was 5 months old. I didn't think much of it because I wasn't going to keep her. I was going to help her and then get rid of her....can you believe that? Anyway, one day I came home from work and was greeted at the door by my sweet girl and without any premeditation at all I said, "Happy Birthday!" It was January 10th.

So that is the story of how Cookie got her birthday and now I want to share how we celebrated her day?

First we tracked some vermin in the back yard.

Then we went to Panjo's and shared a burger and chips.

Then we ran down the street with a ferral labrador.

Then we went to Starbucks and they gave her a cup of whipped topping.

Then we went to Moore Than Feed and got a new pink color AND a tag with her name and phone numbers on it.

Happy 4th Birthday Cookie.

Which makes her 28 in human years right?