The Guy's Side

Ladies, sometimes we have to extend a little sympathy to the other side. I received this not too long ago and thought it deserved being shared with y'all.  I can hear the guys shouting in the "amen corner" already!

Rules from the Male Side.

1.  Learn to work the toilet seat.  You're a big girl.  If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down!

2.  Shopping is Not a Sport. And no, we are not ever going to think of it that way.

3.  Crying is Blackmail.

4.  Ask for what you want.  Let us be clear on this one.  Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

5.  Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

6.  A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem.  See a doctor.

7. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

8.  If it itches, it will be scratched.  We do that.

9. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

10. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...really.

11. You have enough clothes.

12.  You have too many shoes.

13. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

14. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.  Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit.  We have no idea what mauve is.

15. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing", we will act like nothing's wrong.

16. Don't ask what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to talk about things like baseball, the shotgun formation, monster trucks, hunting, etc.

17. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.  In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

One of My Many Stupid Moments

Have you ever had a "stupid moment"? You know what I'm talking about...one of those times when you did something and then immediately after, you thought, I can't believe I just did that! If you haven't, congratulations. If you have, welcome to my world.

This summer, Tim discovered a nest in a dogwood tree in our front yard when he was trimming some branches from the tree. Upon discovering it, he got a ladder at my request so he could climb higher to see if there were any eggs in it. When he climbed the ladder, he didn't see any eggs. What he saw was 2 little baby robins! His face lit up when he discovered the babies. "There are little birds in here!" The little babies had probably been hatched for about 4 or 5 days when we discovered them. They were not attractive at all - no feathers, skin so thin you could see their organs, a little bit of fuzz on them, big heads, etc. They had the kind of face that only a mother could love at that point.

After climbing the ladder and taking some pictures of the newly found nest and its occupants, and after being fussed at tremendously by the parents, we left them alone so they could grow in peace...until the next day. From the day that Tim first discovered the nest and for the next 11 days, I would go outside to the dogwood tree with my ladder in one hand and camera in the other. I would place the 6 foot aluminum ladder as close to the nest as I could, then climb the ladder up 3 steps, hold the camera as high as I could and aim it toward the nest hoping to get some good pictures. I couldn't climb the ladder high enough to actually get above the nest, so I just had to "point and shoot" and hope for the best. It was such a joy to see their development from day to day through my camera's eye. On the 11th day the nest was getting very full and the babies no longer had faces only a mother could love. Those little "bird faces" were growing on me!

Let me back track just a bit.  When I would go out daily to check on the babies the parents would become quite upset with me and voice their displeasure!  They would squawk and fly in and out of the little dogwood tree letting me know that I was in their territory and that I was not welcome there! I tried to get in and out as quickly as possible but some days took longer than others.  On this day, the 11th day after finding the babies, I climbed the ladder to take the pictures and check on the babies.  The mama and dad seemed to be more agitated with me than normal but I continued on with my mission.  Camera...check, ladder... check, full steam ahead! I reached the 3rd step on the ladder, leaned in with camera in hand to get the perfect shot when all of the sudden, I felt something on my back! I reached behind with my hand and realized that one of those adult robins had left me a little present on my back! I could not believe it! What did he/she mean? I was a bird lover! I had worried and fretted over those little baby robins in that nest.  All I wanted was a few photographs and that thing pooped on me! So, here I am standing on a ladder with my head stuck up in this little tree when all of the sudden out of my mouth comes, in the kind of voice that I used to use to scold my kids, "You pooped on me!  You pooped on me!  Why did you poop on me?!" Then it hit me... I was shouting at a bird! I was fussing at a bird! What happened next was just the icing on the cake!

My shouting must have startled the babies, because not long after those words came out of my mouth, one of them fluttered out of the nest to the ground! He escaped! Oh no! I only thought the adult robins didn't like me before!  Now, they left no room for doubt! I had Bird War III on my hands.  Adult robins appeared out of nowhere! What was 2 quickly turned into 8 or 10! It wasn't exactly like the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds but their goal was to make me sorry I had messed with them!

So, I think to myself...I'll just get it and put it back in the nest...no problem. Even if the birds dive-bomb me, it'll be okay. I climb down off the ladder and follow the hopping baby robin...and follow the hopping baby robin...and follow the hopping baby robin.  This went on for what seemed like forever.  Anytime I would get anywhere close to him, he would flutter and hop farther away from me, at one point, even going across the street into my neighbor's yard. At the same time that I'm following this baby, the adults want me out of not only that baby's life but their life and they are letting me know it. What am I gonna do?  Birds were going nuts...the baby robin was scared to death...and I felt horrible! I very well might be the cause of this baby meeting an early death! What to do...what to do...

For the next hour and fifteen minutes, I sat and watched and worried, feeling terribly guilty. I wondered how "the bird world" would handle the mess that this human had made. I would hear the mom chirping loudly to the little robin and the baby chirping back.  It was so pitiful to me.  I felt terrible! The little one finally found a resting place underneath the tree in which his momma was sitting.  She had been chirping so loudly to him for the last hour and 15 minutes trying to tell him where to go and where not to go.   It was sweet and sad at the same time.  I had read in some earlier research that I had done when Tim initially found the nest that the adult robins would do that...they would sit in a tree close to the nest when one got out of the nest, and chirp loudly, to make sure the baby knew the direction to go to get back home. But he couldn't fly and the nest was way too high for him to be able to hop back in!  What to do...what to do...

I stood it as long as I could.  The adult robins had little if any chance of  getting  him up in the nest on their own.  I just didn't see that happening and I was the reason he had gotten out of the nest so I had to brave the elements- the birds dive bombing me, the bird poop, the loud squawking - and get him back in that nest, plain and simple.

I put on some gloves and went over to the baby. He was exhausted by now and didn't put up much of a fight. I laid a butterfly net gently over the baby robin. When he was unable to hop away, I easily picked him up and took him back over to the nest.  After carefully climbing the ladder to the 3rd step for the last time, I laid him in the nest and breathed a huge sigh of relief that he was back safe in his home where he belonged. Whew! I'm not sure if that event was more traumatic for the birds or for me! What was even better was the fact that later on, I saw him sitting comfortably on one of the brances in the little tree.  He was safe. Both his bird world and my human world were at peace for now.

We all do stupid things sometimes.  We use poor judgement and don't think things through. I think that's part of being human.  Hopefully, those episodes diminish a bit with each passing decade. I'm not convinced that our lack of judgement is what we really need to focus on though. I have done some things over the years that could clearly be put in the category of  not using the good sense that God gave me! Those who know me well know how true that is!  I'm thankful though that God has blessed me with some years to grow a little bit and hopefully mature. It may just be that what we do after we do the stupid thing is what really matters. I've heard folks say when speaking of others, "They're just that way. or You'll have to overlook them". Do we excuse the messes that we make too easily?  Do we chalk it up to us or someone else just "being that way". Do we walk away from encounters, situations where we've clearly used poor judgement, where we've clearly messed up with no thought of how to correct it? It may not be possible to fix everything that we ever mess up on. Our human ability may place some limitations on what we are able to do. But I do know that it is not only possible but necessary for the child of God to develop the attitude that we're surely gonna go down trying... that not even an act of Congress could stop our trying to correct wrongs and mend fences.  I wish I had been better at that when I was younger but that was then. I can't turn back time. What I can do is look to the days ahead and be determined that those days will not only be in the past but will be a thing of the past. Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!

Chocolate

My sweet husband and my sweet mom
 in mom's kitchen

When I was growing up my mom use to make this delicious treat for us. She would usually make it for breakfast but every now and then, she would serve it for dinner when we were having "breakfast for dinner". We just called it chocolate, plain and simple.

If I had to describe it to you, I would say that it's something like a hot, pourable homemade chocolate pie.  You know, the kind of homemade chocolate pies that your Granny or Grandma made. That may not sound very appetizing to you but let me assure you that if you are a chocolate fan of any kind, you will love this!

Mom also made homemade biscuits to go along with the chocolate. When those biscuits came out of the oven, she would butter 'em real good and that butter would just be oozing out the sides of those biscuits.  We'd take a biscuit or two, open them up and lay them on our plates, then spoon that chocolate over those biscuits.  Talk about good!  The only thing that made that meal any better was the glass of ice cold milk that we drank with it. 

I asked my mom one time where the recipe came from.  She said that she learned how to make it from my Grandmother, my Dad's mom. Apparently, that was something that could be made from the ingredients that they usually had around the house, things like sugar, flour, milk, cocoa.  During the depression years, most families had no money to spend on special treats and this was something that my Grandmother could make as a treat without going out and spending money for special ingredients.

Well, let me tell you - depression or not, this is a real treat. If you've never had it, try it. You won't be sorry! It's very easy to make. Even though my Mom and my Grandmother made it in an old cast iron skillet on top of the stove, I actually make mine in the microwave now. You don't have to watch it as closely as it cooks and it's less likely to stick and burn. I also serve it with hot, buttered biscuits but mine are the kind that come from the frozen foods section at Wal Mart. There are some things in life, to me, that just aren't worth the trouble of making when I can get them frozen and pop them in the oven. To me, good, frozen biscuits fit perfectly into that category.

My Grandmother made this for her family when my Dad was growing up.  My Mom made this for her family when I was growing up and I made this for my kids when they were growing up. As a matter of fact, I still make it for them and they're basically grown. Who knows, maybe they'll  pass it along to their kids when they have some. That's a nice thought...

"Chocolate"

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 T. flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups milk
1/2 stick butter

Mix sugar, flour and cocoa together well in a microwave proof bowl until you see no lumps of cocoa or flour remaining. Stir in milk and vanilla. Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes.  Take out and stir with a whisk well.  Cook for 2 minutes more, take out and stir well.  Cook for 1 minute more, take out and stir well. Continue cooking for 1 minute at a time and stirring until mixture begins to bubble and thickens. Make sure you stir well  after each cooking time to keep lumps in the chocolate from forming. You want the consistency to be very smooth.  When the chocolate thickens, add 1/2 stick of butter and stir until melted. Serve over hot, buttered biscuits.

The Sweetest Lemonade I've Ever Had!

We've all had times when we wanted to just disappear into thin air...times when something happened to embarrass us. It's times like those when we would like nothing more than to be able to wave a magic wand and turn back time 5 seconds!

I’m not sure that I can adequately describe my feelings at the time it happened - my most embarrassing moment that is.  I don't believe that there are even words in our English language that I could use to clearly paint the picture for you. Suffice it to say that it was total, complete embarrassment, probably my most embarrassing moment ever  (and let me assure you that I have had some pretty embarrassing moments in my lifetime.)

I was at my usual Sunday morning place - church services.  The auditorium was quite full; we had a lot of visitors that morning.  The Bible classes has just concluded and the young folks along with their teachers were coming into the auditorium from their classes. We have about a 15 minute break during this time.  It gives everyone time to get up and stretch a minute, go to the restroom, get a drink of water, etc.  I try to use some of this time to meet any visitors that we might have so I was up walking around. The auditorium of our church building has 2 sets of pews, one on the left and one on the right, with an aisle up the center of the bldg. leading to the front of the auditorium.

I had made my way around and spoken with several of our visitors and I proceeded to walk up the center aisle toward the bench that Tim and I usually sit on. Tim was talking with someone about half way up the aisle so I just stopped and stood behind him while he carried on his conversation.

The day was great. As I said, we had a lot of visitors which was such an encouragement to us. You see, we are a relatively new group of the Lord's church.  We've been in our current church building for a couple of years after meeting at places that we rented for about 2 years.  The auditorium was bustling from folks conversing with one another.  It was about 5 minutes before time for our worship service to begin.

As I stood there in the center aisle behind Tim waiting for him to finish speaking with some folks, I felt the weight of my left foot begin to shift a bit and press outwardly. When that happened, the weight on the left side of my body was no longer resting evenly on my high heeled shoe. Uh oh! "Houston, we have a problem!" When the left side of my body weight was no longer resting evenly on my left high heeled shoe, my left foot became off-balance and my left ankle pretty much gave way on me.  Actually, not pretty much...it did! Now let me stop to remind us all how very, very important our ankles are in the scheme of things like holding up our body weight. It's a small member of our body but trust me, it plays a very important role in our well being! If our ankle isn't supporting our leg, guess what? We're not being supported! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out! On with my humiliation... When my left ankle gave way, my left leg gave way, and when my left leg gave way, I went down!!!!!!  Yes, you read right! I went down!  I would love to tell you that it was a graceful fall, one that movies are made of but I dare say that it was probably the kind of fall that folks send in to those shows that highlight people looking stupid!

At any rate, I am confident that it wasn't pretty.  And it wasn't one of those things that, as a participant, you see happening in slow motion. At least I didn't.  It was fast!  Before I knew it, I was sitting in that middle aisle on my backside! (Yes, ladies...at this moment, it is appropriate to feel horrified for me!) There literally was a gasp...an "ohhhhhh" coming from those who saw it happen. Tim turned around, saw me on the floor and was shocked when he realized that I had fallen. (His back had been turned to me the entire time so he didn't actually see what happened.) He helped me back to a standing position, the position I prefer to be in most of the time. With many eyes on me and feeling my face get redder and redder, I waved to the crowd in the auditorium and let them know that I was OK.  "I'm fine...really I'm fine.", I said, and I was ...physically. Note to self - Be extremely thankful for deciding to wear an extra full, rather long dress that morning.

Tim held onto my arm and escorted me to the bench. I'm sure that my face had in it's coloring every shade of red that has been and that will ever be known to mankind.
Embarrassed?  Oh my! That word isn't strong enough.  It just doesn't do justice to how I felt as I sat down.

After services were over, several people showed their sincere concern for me and my physical well being as well as my mental trauma. One of the sweetest, most caring people I have ever been blessed to be associated with came up to me immediately after church and asked,  "Are you okay?" as she gave me a warm hug. I knew she felt my embarrassment. There were several who asked if I was okay. Some thought I had twisted my ankle or that the heel of my shoe had gotten caught in the fibers of the carpet. Two people in particular said when speaking to me about the fall..."Well that’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Everyone falls! " Those statements happened to come from men. I think probably that falling for men isn’t nearly as traumatic as it is for women. It's normal for men, teen boys, little boys and even baby boys to spend a lot of time developing an up close and personal relationship with the ground. Ladies...not so much. Most folks were just puzzled that one second I was standing and the next second I was on the floor.  I was kind of puzzled too!

I survived that episode that morning and went home for the afternoon but every time "the fall" would pop back into my mind, the same sick, embarrassing feeling would come to the surface all over again. You know that feeling where your heart just sinks and you feel like you have Sumo wrestlers going at it in your stomach?  Yep...that was how I felt.

On Sunday evening we returned to Kelly Spring Rd. for the evening worship service as usual. I, of course, was hoping that I wouldn't have to relive what had happened and that no one would bring it up anymore.  As I was standing in the center aisle once again talking with some people before church began a kind man, who had visited with us several times asked me in a rather loud voice, "Are you okay from your fall this morning?"  I kind of chuckled a bit and said, "I’m fine, really I am.  But thank you for asking." He went on to say as he continued in his rather loud voice, "Well that’s good as long as your okay. That’s all that matters."

Those last two sentences that he said all of the sudden made a lot of sense to me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized. Yes, that really is all that matters...that I wasn't hurt...that I was okay.

Now, don't misunderstand. I still was embarrassed, terribly embarrassed!  I can say that I don't believe I have ever had a more embarrassing moment in all my years of life on this earth, but I was okay. That was the important thing. That visitor along with many members of my Christian family helped bring that to the forefront of my thinking.

I received a big old bushel basket full of lemons that day and I didn't even ask for it.  I also received some of the sweetest lemonade that I’ve ever had and I didn’t even have to make it. My sweet family in Christ made it for me and handed it to me on a silver platter.  

And the Two Shall Become One

From the time I met them almost 30 years ago, I knew something was different about them. They just seemed to get along so well...two peas in a pod. They didn't just love each other, they really did enjoy one another's company. It was rare when you would see one without the other. What they did, they did as a couple. When they were thought of by others, it was usually as a couple, not individuals. They were very different physically. He was tall and slim. She was quite petite. He was a few years older than she was but when she caught his eye, he knew that she was special.

That couple has been married for 55 years now. That tall slim man is in his 80's. His hair is white, hers is gray. He walks with a little less pep in his step these days and sometimes forgets things but their love for one another has not diminished. It has, in fact, grown stronger as the years have passed.  The love that they now share is not the same kind of love they had when they were married for those first 20 years.  It's more of a caring, nurturing kind of love. It's the kind where she fusses at him for trying to do things that he really shouldn't try to do. You know, things like going outside and working in 100 degree weather or climbing a ladder to do some work on the house. It's the kind of love where he still comforts her when life and the worries of life get her down.  I have no doubt that either one of them would willingly give their life for the other.

Their example to me has been a great one of what it means in a practical sense to no longer be two individuals going their separate ways but to cleave to each other as a married couple. During the time that I've known them, they haven't "done their own things" without considering the other.  They've loved and supported each other, even showing support to the extended families that they married in to.

That's a lesson we can all learn whether we've been married for 1 year, 25 years, or 50 years. We live in a world that encourages us to do "what's best for us", individually, to put "us" at the top of the totem pole.  I think we've forgotten what it's like to put others needs and desires above our own. There's no other relationship where this is more important than in the marriage relationship. It may be in reference to a specific need or sometimes it may just be a desire of our spouse, something that we'd really prefer not to do if we were thinking only about ourselves. It's times like those that I need to remember the examples that I have been fortunate enough to have in my life and specifically the example of my mother and father-in-law, Mary and Joe Smith.

In-laws have been the butt of jokes as long as I can remember. They have gotten a bad rap over the years.  They're portrayed as bossy and meddling. While I'm sure there are some who fit that description well, there also are some who can teach us valuable lessons if we open our minds to that possibility.

While we haven't always agreed on everything and although we've gotten on each other's nerves at times, I'm thankful for mine. They've taught me volumes about what it means to no longer be two but one, not through any lecturing or meddling but by their example. Hmmmm...It is true...Actions do speak so much louder than words.



November, 2010



The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever...Really!

If you're looking for a good, I mean really good chocolate chip cookie recipe, then you need to try this one. There is a bakery in New York called Levain's Bakery. http://www.levainbakery.com/ They are known for their giant, colossal, delicious, buttery, chocolate chip cookies. Their recipe is apparently a top secret so this recipe is a copycat version. This recipe made 45 - 2 1/2" cookies when I made it. Making it their way? It will make 12 huge cookies! That tells you how enormous they are! This is a thick cookie, one that's crispy a bit on the outside and chewey on the inside. It's not like the typical "Toll House" cookie that is flat, so if that's what you prefer, you won't care for this one but we love it!
The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients
2 sticks of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup good quality milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: In a mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Don't over beat. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Chill dough for 1 hour.

Baking - their way: Divide dough into 12 big 4 oz. sections. (Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill. That's the approx. size of 4 oz.) Form into cookie shape and bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 8 minutes. When timer rings and without opening oven, reduce heat to 325 and bake another 8 minutes or until cookies appear set. 2nd way: You can choose not to bake at 2 different temps and bake totally at 350 degrees for 18-22 min. Yield: 12 ginormous cookies

Baking - my way: Scoop a "heaping teaspoonful" of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degrees preheated oven on the bottom rack for 9 -10 minutes. (Begin checking on them at the 9 min. mark. You want them set but not really brown - just a little bit golden. That way, they aren't hard and crispy but more chewy.) Yield: 40 - 45 normal sized cookies

You Must Win

You Must Win

Bev Smith

August 1, 2010

Nate and Aaron

When my kids were preschool age, there were days when it seemed like all I did was correct them. As a matter of fact there were times when I would get to the end of the day and try to think of a pleasant, fun experience that we had had and some days I had a really hard time coming up with even one! I'm sure you've had some days like that too.

On this Wednesday in particular, it had been one of those days...fussing, arguing, time outs, paddling. You name it. If it was of a negative nature in reference to behavior, it happened with the kids on that Wednesday. We all had dinner and had gotten dressed for Wednesday night Bible class. We arrived at the church building and I walked into the Bible class that I was co-teaching. With a huge sigh, I relayed some of the difficulty that I had experienced that day to my co-teacher, Mary Jo. I told her that I not only felt like I had been at war all day but that I was exhausted! Mary Jo looked at me and with a gentle voice said, "But you must remember, you have to win." That happened over 20 years ago but I have never forgotten what she said.

It is true. As a parent, you must win. Your children must know who is boss...who is the authority in the house. I believe that at almost every age until adulthood, most children believe they know what it best about any given matter and sometimes it coincides with what mom and dad think is best and sometimes it doesn't. What they are missing in the mix of things is the life lessons and the experiences that you have gained over the years. Most kids aren't privy to that because of their youth. That usually only comes with time.

When you were blessed to become a parent, God automatically put you in the role of being a teacher. Your responsibility to both your children and to God is to teach them diligently what is best. Teach them diligently when the days are calm and easy-going and teach them diligently when it seems that you're at war all day. The reward comes not just when your children show their respect for you and your authority but more importantly, when they show their respect for God and His authority.

Amazing Love

We sang a song at church not too long ago. It was a new song to me. I don't recall ever hearing it before. There are some hymns that we sing at church that cause me to look more introspectively than others. They cause me to think about what I say, how I act, whether I'm really putting God at the forefront of my life like I should. Am I truely a servant of God doing my best, not perfect, but doing my best? This was one of those songs.  Since this was the first time I had heard the song I was paying extra attention to the words while trying to follow the music at the same time. We had sung about 1/2 of the song when I stopped singing. I could no longer form the words as tears welled up in my eyes. They weren't sad tears though. They were tears of gratefulness to my Father. Those words"...that You, my God would die for me!" really struck a cord with me at that time on that day. It touched me to the core as I sat on the bench and listened to the rest of the song.

I think sometimes we're afraid to show emotion. We're afraid of what others might think. Thoughts of God and the sacrifice of His Son should cause emotions to stir within us - emotions like sorrow for his suffering, and thankfulness for His mercy in allowing us to be called children of God.

Although I've heard the song several times since that initial time, it still touches me every time...every time. If we ever reach the point where words like that don't stir emotion in us, we need to try to figure out why. They should.

I needed that song that day. I needed to be reminded to do better.

If you haven't sung or heard the song before, I've posted it below. This is the arrangement that is in our song books at Kelly Spring Rd. I understand the arrangement that we sang is different from how it was originally arranged when it was written. Either way, the words should make you want to do better.

And Can It Be
by Charles Wesley Arranged by Darrell Bledsoe

And can it be that I should gain an int'rest in my Savior's Blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who scorned, His perfect love.

Amazing love, how can it be that You, my God, would die for me.
Amazing love, how can it be, that You, my God, would die for me.

Boldly I come before Your throne, to claim Your mercy immense and free;No greater love will e'er be known, For O, my God, it found out me.

Amazing love, how can it be that You, my God, would die for me.
Amazing love, how can it be, that You, my God, would die for me.

You Can Call Me Granny

Aaron and his real
sweetie, Emily

Our 2nd oldest son, Aaron, will be finishing up his Bachelor's Degree in Nursing in December at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.He worked during the summer in an Internship Program sponsored by the University and the local hospital, DCH (Druid City Hospital.) Aaron had applied for the job and was happy to be one of several to receive it. That meant he could quit the job that he had been doing for a couple of years in Tuscaloosa...making sub sandwiches. There was definitely no love lost in leaving the old job. This internship was a paying job and in his field of study.  The best part was that it paid more than the job that he previously had at the Sub Shop. Life was good!

Aaron was placed in the TICU at DCH.  TICU stands for Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He quickly grew to really like that area of nursing. Aaron said that it was basically one- on-one care. He liked that. He didn't care for being stretched between several patients. As a matter of fact, that is probably his favorite area that he has worked so far.

During the summer internship, a sweet little lady was admitted in TICU. The way Aaron said would describe her the best would be to picture in your mind a little old granny. That would be her...white hair, short, sweet, elderly. As a matter of fact, if I'm recalling the story correctly, she was 88 years old. Aaron said that when she was admitted in the TICU, she introduced herself by saying, "You can call me Granny." So, that's what they did. They called her Granny.

Granny wasn't your typical TICU patient. She was able to speak easily, didn't seemed to be in a lot of pain, and had just a good attitude about life in general. Even though Granny wasn't Aaron's specific patient, he had helped Granny's nurse with Granny a couple of times. Granny took a liking to Aaron. Now, seeing that I'm Aaron's mom, I will say that I don't think that taking a liking to Aaron would be a very difficult thing to do but I am just a little bit biased in my opinion. But 88 year old Granny took a particular liking to Aaron. She even told the other nurses that she thought Aaron was cute and that he was her boyfriend. That didn't really bother Aaron though. He was happily married and a newlywed. Besides, she was 88 years old! She was definitely not a threat by any wild stretch of the imagination!

Granny was being discharged from the TICU and Aaron's work with the patient that he had been assigned was caught up so he went down to help Granny's nurse get her ready to leave the floor. Granny didn't often ask the nursing staff for things; she would tell them...and they usually would fill her request. After Aaron had helped get Granny ready to leave the floor, she turned to him and said, "Now you can give Granny a kiss." Aaron thought, "What? I know she didn't say what I thought she said!" Contemplating what to do, Aaron began to think about the possibilities. What was he going to do? He knew that she didn't have any communicable diseases. There was nothing that she "had" that he could catch, so he thought..."What's the harm. I'll just give her a little peck on the cheek. She's a sweet little old lady, then she'll be gone." So, Aaron bent down to give 88 year old, sweet, white haired Granny a peck on the cheek as she was sitting in her wheelchair before she left the TICU floor. The next thing that happened was not even within the realm of thinking of this student nurse working as an intern at DCH.  But, in his own words, "SHE WAS FAST!" Before he knew it, she had turned her head and it was no longer a cheek peck but a full mouth-on peck!!!!! Maybe no communicable diseases but OH MY!!!!

Aaron said that once little old Granny left the room, he immediately went over to the sink and used a lot of soap and water on his face and mouth! Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, washing your mouth out with soap, huh?

According to Aaron, there are some patients that just leave a lasting impression on their nursing staff because of their personality, their illness, their compliance, their grumpiness.  Granny will definitely be one that leaves a lasting impression on Aaron as she welcomed him into the world of nursing in a way he never expected...with a kiss!