#10 - Inspire Your Audience

Laughing with the living

  1. Great Gma Boo
    1. Gentle gracious woman
    2. No one knows why we called her "boo"
    3. Made incredible birthday cakes - carousel
    4. About 10 years ago, family went to Disney World and took her along while I was on a school trip
    5. She was in her 70s, and so got a wheelchair at the park
    6. At every ride, she and a few of the family were whisked to the front of the line and boarded immediately
    7. Family learned when they go to Disney World, take a great-grandmother; they're very handy
    8. She passed away Xmas morning a few years back
    9. We were expecting to see her in a few hours for the extended family Xmas gathering
  2. Life is uncertain
    1. We all grow older
    2. We all hope for a long life, with a graceful, peaceful passing
    3. Gma boo pretty much had that. She was 83. We knew her time was coming.
    4. And we talk about her sometimes; it's good to laugh at the dead
    5. But we can do that because we laughed with the living
  3. Family - can't live with them, can't disown them
    1. Family relationships are often complicated
    2. We pick on our siblings, but get angry if anyone else bothers them
    3. We care for them, but they can drive us crazy
    4. Because of this, we sometimes lose sight about how important they are
    5. We may not realize the value of spending time and enjoying their company
  4. Newsweek article about boomers & sibling relationships
    1. Siblings normally relate through their parents
    2. When their parents pass away, will they lose contact without parental influence, or will have a more regular adult relationship?
    3. This has been on my mind a bit recently
    4. I've given some thought to my relationship with my two sisters, and they need work
    5. Interestingly, my youngest sister and her husband visited two weeks ago
    6. We had a great time. Several times, sharing family stories
  5. Fat Uncles...
    1. My uncle Herman, great uncle really, was a fat man, with a big round belly.
    2. When I visited as a kid, he'd wrastle with me, and call me slim jim and the Incredible Hulk. He had a big belly laugh too
    3. And he had this great basement with the neatest stuff. There were unusual toys, and old wind-up 78rpm record player, and other stuff of profound interest to 8 yr. old boys.
    4. We didn't see him too often, but he could be a fun man to spend time with
    5. Saw him less frequently as the years went by
    6. He passed away about 8 years ago.
    7. It makes me think that I should talk with my sisters about uncle Herman, and see how they remember him
  6. ...And Crazy Aunts
    1. which reminds me: his wife, my aunt Katie recently celebrated her 90th birthday. I couldn't be there, but I got Chrissy to give the dirt when she visited
    2. Aunt Katie is crazy now. Well, actually, she's senile, and suffers short-term memory loss. But it's much more fun to have a crazy aunt
    3. At the party, her daughter, Midge, told stories about my dad, a few of which Chrissy related to me. She talked about when he was in college, and then in the marines. And when he was first married, and my mom was a pregnant with me. Stories that had my family in tears with laughter
    4. Enjoying the present, renewing family ties, laughing with the living about days gone by.
    5. But about my crazy aunt - Midge told us of the time she called her, and got her daughter. When told Midge wasn't there, Katie said she thought she had left her keys with Midge, but couldn't remember her phone #, so could she please have it. The girl gave her the number, and Katie hung up. Now with the number in hand, the one she had just called from memory a moment before, called back, and asked for her daughter. No, her granddaughter replied, she's not here. Tell I called, please, Katie said, before hanging up.
    6. Another time, Midge was talking with Katie about the wonderful dinner and night out they had all enjoyed the night before. Katie remarked, that sounds wonderful, I wish I could have been there.
    7. When I go crazy, I hope I bring my family as my humor and mirth.
    8. But I hope I don't go crazy for several more years. But you never know, there's always...
  7. Unexpected transitions
    1. Family relationships become more stressed but also more important when you lose a family member unexpectedly, especially at a young age
    2. As many of you know, my 18 yr. old brother Kenny died due to a sudden illness two years ago
    3. Putting everything else aside, it's made us reflect and remember the times we had with him, and tell crazy stories about him
    4. I remember, many years ago, when he was about 4, and I was 12, I had a two-person pup-tent. One night in the summer, I set it up behind the house and Kenny and I slept out there that evening. But he had lost a tooth that day, and it was under his pillow in the tent. As we was about asleep, mom came out, and swapped a quarter for the tooth. From the motion, Kenny stirred, half-saw mom leaving, and groggily asked me what that was. I told him it was the tooth fairy! And he was excited that he had seen the tooth-fairy in action, and immediately found the money under his pillow.
    5. That's a story that I should tell my sisters; they'd enjoy it.
  8. Will he ever shut up?
    1. I also hope you've enjoyed them, and they've stir memories of your own
    2. Or perhaps I've reminded you of that grandmother who bores you with endless stories about people you don't know
    3. Either way, I've done part of what I wanted to do: to get you to think about your family, to remember your stories
    4. But I also want to inspire you to keep making new stories to tell later
    5. Get in contact with your siblings, your parents, your relatives
    6. Send a card, an email, make a call
    7. Have dinner, take a vacation, watch TV together
    8. Tell stories about loved ones,
    9. And remember to laugh with the living