Sandy Welch Thompson
We all have stories. My stories can be fairly vivid – if you have forgotten the booger
story or the one about stuff stickin’ together in my purse, I encourage you to look in the
archived Path articles.
Reader discretion advisory: They could either gross you out, give you a chuckle, or
both.
I try to give you enough detail to visualize the events that I’ve experienced. To truly see
the daily occurrences I’ve encountered with my kids, my family, really just life in general.
I sometimes have even referenced my favorite smells, like my dad’s old shop rags. I
can just think about those gasoline/grease soaked rags and transport myself back into
cleaning his shop all over again.
Lord knows I talk about a vast array of things. I can probably even give ya a taste of my
world. It wasn’t so long ago that I picked up a bag of Fritos and discovered that not
even a bag of chips is sacred in my home. It’s been a few years, but I did grab a bag
and start eating them. I quickly discovered they tasted odd and asked the girls if they
had eaten any of them. The standard “no” was given as a reply. I continued to eat
them in an attempt to decipher what was awry and asked again. It was at that point that
Leah replied, “I didn’t eat any of dem momma, I ‘dust’ needed some salt, so I licked dem
but dats all, I put dem back for you.”
I bet YOU can taste those nasty old Fritos now too. You are most welcome for that little
jewel. Or how about cookies? Same ignorance on my part. You would think I would
learn a little quicker.
Coulda swore I had bought sandwich cookies…and I had. However, when a tiny little
blonde only likes the middle part, well…you wind up with double the amount of cookies
in the jar – but none of the insides. I’m a little slower in my 40s, so it took me a bit
before realizing they had been altered. By about the 4th cookie I had popped in my
mouth, I noticed the slight shadow of what used to be the white filling in them. Again,
you’re welcome.
Need a visual? Here’s ya one. I don’t even know what it’s like to eat at a restaurant
that doesn’t have toys. The word toy has lost the meaning I always knew it to be. Small
Frisbee? Awesome! Little puzzle included? Great! But many of our fine fast-food
establishments have skewed the very essence of the word, toy. A giant NO THANK
YOU to all of those restaurants that perceive tattoos are a toy. Nothing like looking in
the back seat to see one of my little girls with their tongue out, steadily “wetting” the
tattoo with their saliva, to adhere the nasty little “toy” to the other one’s face.
I clearly do a lot of parenting from the rear-view mirror. This is how I discovered the
tattoo ordeal. It’s also how I discovered how the (then) 5-year-old trimmed her toenails.
I know, right…I won’t go into any more detail other than there was MAJOR teeth
brushing when we got home. Plenty of floss too.
Now that I’ve given you a little sample of how a day in my life has gone, I hope you can
take the sights, sounds, smells and yes, even tastes of your own life and bring a new
appreciation for them. I’m not sayin’ go out and lick the salt off a chip and I would not
agree that you should take a child’s advice on personal hygiene, but DO take some
advice from what I’ve written here. Advice perhaps that you won’t appreciate right
away.
Most of us have 5 senses. We use them every day. We take in the good, the bad, the
funny, the odd, and everything in between. It’s how we remember things. So know
this…once you’ve read this Path: As you take life in, breathe that life back out in a way
that your life matters. Write, draw, record, invent, whatever method allows you to make
you mark a great one on this earth, make your story your own.
Take in all those pieces and make your individualized crazy, wild, unique self. Temper
the good with the bad. Use all those senses to make your picture complete.
We only get one shot at this gig. Whatever makes up your days – consume it. With
everything you have, with everything you are, and with everything you want to be,
consume every tiny morsel this life has to offer, even on those days that it feels like the
delicious cream is missing from the middle.
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