Wednesday, May 3, 2006

The Happy Gene

I received a strange compliment the other day.

I was in charge of picking up two of my sisters and driving us all to our monthly pokeno game.
I started with sister #3, then drove the two blocks to sister #2. I went inside to tell her I was there because I knew she wouldn't hear my tiny, pathetic little horn.

When I went back outside, my brother in law, nephew and a friend of their's were standing at the top of the driveway so I stopped and we chatted about baseball for a few moments while sister #2 was frantically running around her house trying to gather her things.

Later, as we were driving down the highway, sister #3 said, "De, I have to tell you something. When you were talking to Brother in Law in the driveway, I was watching you and thought to myself, 'She sure looks like a fun person!'."

I was a little surprised for several reasons.
1. Sister #3 rarely compliments anyone or says anything nice at all.
2. How does someone look fun without a big red nose and a rainbow wig?
3. She's known me since the day I was born. Why is she just NOW realizing this? HELL YEAH...I'm totally fun!

I don't brag about myself much because, let's face it, there is not much to brag about but if someone ever wants me to tell them something about myself, the word "fun" always comes up.
I am a hell of a lot of fun.
I think it's because that basically, I'm a happy person.
Sure, I get down and depressed. I get beaten down by life sometimes, but I ALWAYS bounce back and I always find something to be happy about.

Most of my sisters are that way. Well...except for #3. She got the hateful gene.
I think we learned this from my mother.

She didn't have a great life. She made a lot of mistakes that she is still paying for to this day.
She made decisions that has made her life difficult and she's had to work hard her entire life.
She was a young single mother of three when it wasn't popular to be a divorced, working mother. But she was fun.
She laughed..a lot. She still does.

She's lost a lot in her life; her parents, beloved aunts and uncles, her husband, her grandson, but she keeps a smile on her face most of the time and she still laughs.

I guess she's passed down that valuable trait.

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