I was walking to Southwest Diner ( I thought I had been there...I had not) and saw makeshift plastic and chicken wire cages in the front yard. I also saw a sign in the front yard that said Justice for Immigrants. Lauren arrived and we sat down and I posited that people who raise chickens are kind and usually a better grade of people. We went back and forth and soon disproved my theory by several counterexamples. So sorry. This wisdom I was going to lay on you was flawed. Just breakfast today. My mother always says, "You have to have a sense of whimsy." Through crocks, nicknames on magnets, or weird costumes I have my sense of whimsy. I think we also need people around us with a sense of mischief. Just look at the picture of Lauren to the right, she is posing like an Angel, but you can see the mischief in her smile.
Yesterday, I hoped I could bring a big smile and laughter to the life of my goddaughter, the way my godmother, Aunt Carol, did for me. I think God had other plans because Lauren has throughout her entire life brought me smiles and joy even (sorry Mary) when her mother would tell me tales of woe or trouble that would just make me laugh. Of course, I think I have been blamed for some of the mischief myself. After not seeing my goddaughter for a couple of years, I saw her at a funeral for her family. My guilt over not being there swayed me to give her a fifty dollar bill and tell her to spend it on something frivolous. Lauren immediately got her naval pierced. There was much disapproval from her mother's friends that I had corrupted the sweet, innocent Lauren. (Years earlier I had met all of these people while wearing a plastic Steve Canyon flight helmet complete with plastic oxygen mask at a Mizzou-Marquette basketball game...so maybe their fears had some merit?)
Sorry back to the sweet, innocent mischief? Lauren. Lauren told me about having her hands full with her oldest a 2 year old girl. Lauren told me she is too intelligent for a two year old and she was always up to something. I would have to say that about Lauren also. I really do not know Lauren's GPA or her school records, I know I asked before, but the knowledge fell away because it was not important. The reason it was not important is that Lauren is extraordinarily clever and I knew that skill would and still does always get her over the next hurdle. Lauren is married to a former Priory student of mine, Andy. I think Andy is worried that he did something in 7th grade that I still remember. Believe me Andy, I do not. But I remember there was also a sense of mischief in Andy.
I am so happy that they have found each other. It is not always an easy thing says the old man writing these words. Lauren talked to me about her work and what I thought was maybe something simple was much more complex and had a lot more to it than I knew. Apparently coffee, drinking coffee, and selling to people who like coffee is big in America. I missed that. But it was apparent that she was bringing the same Lauren to her job that I have seen at barbecues and birthdays, picnics and get togethers. Lauren's mom and dad became grown-ups quicker than anyone I know. Well I was still being an idiot in college, there were starting a home and starting a family. Every time I go to their house, something comes out immediately that this is a home and this family is together through thick and thin. I wonder how it feels to know that working a lifetime to be there always in love and support produces a kid named Lauren. Matt and Bridget are pretty good people, but Lauren's name is in the title so she gets all the credit here. I would consider my entire life a success if I produced a Lauren. Someone had different plans for me, so I will just have to love the 31 "daughters" I will spend a week with in Biloxi, loving them the best way I can. I have had so many great examples in my life to show me how.
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