Meet My Parents

Happy Mothers Day and Fathers Day. I haven't had a ton of time to reflect on those days much yet this year, but since it's almost over for both of those days, just wanted to say thanks. You worked hard to get me grown up. When I needed to come back and lean on you again, you were there, too. And now that I'm standing on my own two feet again, you're still around. Thanks for all the love. Hope you've got plenty in return!!!

Some nostalgia... aka the good ole days!

This is probably my new favorite picture. Just mom and me! Funnily enough, we both look pretty much the same. Although my cheeks aren't QUITE as chubby...

Two things I'll always remember about dad: his beard and those sunglasses. I think he probably had at least a couple of pairs of those.

We Believe in Being Honest

So I had an experience yesterday... I was at Walmart buying stuff for the kitties. And while I was there, I decided to buy a big red ball for Cole to play with in the backyard. On the big red ball is the barcode, and this concerned me as I tend to have difficulty in the self checkout with just that sort of thing. While we were waiting in line, I decided I'd go ahead and get a vitamin water. I was thirsty, Cole is ALWAYS thirsty. It seemed like a good solution. So I put it in my cart.

When we got to the checkout, I rang up the kitty stuff, then very carefully rang up the big red ball. It actually worked the first time! Hooray! I paid for my stuff, and as I was walking away, the lady overseeing the self check out stopped me to make sure that the big red ball had rung up correctly. After seeing my reciept, she sent me on my way.

I wheeled everything out to the parking lot and started to unload things into the trunk. When I'd gotten everything out, I realized I hadn't remembered to ring up my vitamin water! But there it was in my cart. Cole was buckled in his car seat, the big red ball was stashed next to him, the kitty things were in the trunk... it seemed like such a hassle to go back in and wait in line and ring up my silly drink. I hesitated, then got in the car. I was ready to open it, but a persisting thought kept coming to my mind. How could I drink it knowing it was stolen?

Stealing is something I've struggled with for most of my life. I've often wondered if I have a touch of kleptomania or something. It seems like such a silly thing, but I think about stealing things everytime I go into a store. Fortunately, I had parents who taught me about being honest. AND after seeing a girl I knew in high school get escorted out of the store I was working in for stealing a pack of cigarettes and some nail polish (which probably wouldn't have cost her more than $5), I had seen the consequences and wasn't willing to risk getting arrested and fined just for some free stuff. I don't know why this is something I still think about. I haven't stolen anything from a store or even tried since I was about 5 or 6. Even at that time, I can remember going out of the store with my Mom, Cathy, Christopher and my Aunt Debbie. I had grabbed some candy or gum on the way out and we'd made it to the door before Aunt Debbie saw what I had in my hand. She took me back in the store and we put it back, all the while explaining that if we don't pay for something, we can't take it out of the store.

Well, I drove to the other entrance and parked near the front. I took my vitamin water, got Cole out of his carseat, and went inside. All the while he kept asking me why we had to go back in the store, so I explained to him that we forgot to pay for our drink and we didn't want to take something that wasn't ours. We hopped in an express checkout, I paid for the $1.07 drink with a twenty, and we walked back out of the store.

What a relief that was. I didn't have that little voice telling me I was drinking a stolen drink. I won't have to remember ten years from now that I had done something wrong. I could enjoy my Power-C drink and share it with Cole knowing I had done the right thing. Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm pretty sure it tasted better, too. Someday, hopefully he'll remember that small lesson, even though he's only almost 4... I know I will remember. And I'm grateful for that little voice that kept saying to me, "How can you drink that when you know it's stolen?" And even more grateful I was able to silence it.

Better to fail with honor, than to succeed by fraud. ~Sophocles