I was in Waxahatchie, Texas for my sweet Uncle Eddie’s funeral this weekend. He was a military man. If you’d asked me how tall he was I would have said eight feet but my Mom says it’s closer to six feet four.
He wrote an epic Christmas letter every year. I don’t mean he typed a letter and sent it. Oh no, that man HAND WROTE Christmas letters to people. LONG letters too! Although, truthfully I got booted off the list a few years back because I forgot to do something I was supposed to do for him. Meh, I deserved it.
The whole state of Texas is whackadoodle crazy. No offense, Texas. You know it’s true. Spellcheck thinks whackadoodle isn’t a word. I think that Spellcheck is whackadoodle.
Everything really is bigger here. For instance, I hung out with Sam Houston yesterday.
Bonus points if you understand why I called him ‘GBF’ when I texted Jamie, the twelve year old, about it.
We saw real cowboys going to Cowboy Church.
And I saw a real tall horse.
See! Even horses are bigger in Texas.
My Uncle Eddie was also an artist. How fantastic are these?
Except that one on the left. He’s clearly up to something. It’s those shifty eyes. He knows what’s going down.
My cousin Jennifer invited us to her house, a real Texas ranch, to look at old pictures. I now present to you the scariest birthday clown ever.
Thanks for hiring that guy. Now I have something to use as fodder for my nightmares.
In the end it was SO nice seeing the family. My brothers drove me to the airport and every time there was a lull in the conversation I thought ‘Oh Paula, don’t waste this time.’
Being around each other – those I see plenty and those I never see – just reminds me how dang much I love everybody. Well, that and the meds I just took to calm my nerves for the flight.
So right now I’m at the airport wearing heels pretending to be a real business woman. A few minutes ago I made a mistake and made a frustrated sound. Another lady in heels (one that’s probably going to a super fancy city for a super fancy meeting) gave me a ‘solidarity sister’ look. I’ll take it.
This business woman fantasy – it’s just me being me. And all this BIG whackadoodle stuff is just Texas being Texas. And all this love that we have for each other is just us being family.