I got to do a memorial service yesterday for the brother of one Seaside's great ladies. He had cancer and lived with her for the last months of his life. I didn't know him, but from the rousing stories that people told at the service, he must have been quite a guy. He had a group of friends that named themselves the Sons of the Desert (SOD's, followed by a chuckle). They apparently traveled all over the world and had all sorts of adventures together. They even had a "secret sign" of greeting between them. He loved fishing, too. Sounded like a great guy to know. My favorite parts of the service, though, were when my Seaside kids took part. They grew up at Seaside, so they count as "my kids." Kelly prayed an invocation that was one of the most spiritual expressions I have ever heard. Houston and Ashely sang a song together. Jimmy played guitar and sang, and Lora joined him. Those two were dressed to the hilt, too. They were heading to a senior prom, I heard.
After the service I headed over to Kel and Christina's in LaMarque for Josiah's birthday party. He turned two years old on Friday. It was just family, but then between Christina's and ours, there were plenty of folks there. And not all of her family could make it. Her Dad is an amazing cook, so he was in charge of that department. I have no idea what the meal was called. There were a bunch of shrimp that looked boiled, but he cooked them in the oven somehow. You put those on top of some of those noodles that look like seashells. The only time I remember eating them was when they were covered with velveeta cheese. There were also some meatballs a well as some shredded up chicken. I took a little of everything. Well, I took a lot of shrimp. The next things in line were two bowls of sauce. One looked like the stuff on a pizza. The other one looked like the cream gravy you put on a chicken fried steak. I went with the white stuff. I passed on the salad, though. I was getting pretty hungry and I didn't want to use up precious stomach space with extraneous greenery. Whatever you call it, it was yummy. Since I got there late, everyone was waiting for me to finish so we could have the cupcakes and open presents. So I rushed through as fast as I could, and we moved on to the important stuff.
At one point Christina's niece and Cailyn had a little run-in. I'm not sure what the niece was thinking, but it had to be something akin to "who are you and what are you doing at my relative's house?" Out of the blue she advanced upon Cailyn from behind and gave her a shove. Not hard, mind you, but enough to get her attention. To her credit, Cailyn, who was bigger and could no doubt have decked her attacker, turned and walked away. Actually she darted behind her DadDad, wondering what just happened. Christina's sister apparently saw the whole thing as well. At least she saw the shove, because she was onto the little tyke in a heartbeat, demanding that she say she was sorry. Finally, the little one responded by rubbing her hand across her stomach. Mommy explained that they were working on signing, and that sometimes meant "I'm sorry." I know a few of those toddler sign languages myself. Enough to know that one is supposed to be "Please." I got the message, though. "Kind of like Aloha, huh?" was my reply. Mommy agreed. I don't think Cailyn quite got the Hawaiian reference, though. She was still looking at her adversary like she was some kind of alien (the kind from outer space, not the kind from out of Texas). She managed to locate her Mommy and Daddy, though, so after some assurances from good ol' eyewitness DadDad, they granted the assurance she needed.
1 John 2:24-25 says, "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us — even eternal life."
Father, thanks for my Mom today. It's good to still have her around. Amen.
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