Tag: good-times

It’s baby brother’s birthday.

It’s baby brother’s birthday.

Shel R.1 Comment

Today, is my little brother’s birthday.

We don’t talk anymore and I haven’t even tried to message him because I’m sure he has me blocked anyway.

He’s the type who doesn’t want to hear the truth, and if you’re not agreeing with him or he thinks you’re trying to tell him how to live his life when you’re really trying to give some wisdom – he’ll distance himself from you, and that’s what he did to me.

He didn’t like the fact that I told him the truth, didn’t sugar coat anything, and he didn’t like that I told him what he needed to hear, rather than what he wanted to hear.

We haven’t talked in months now and honestly, I’m okay with that.

I love him dearly and I wish him nothing but the best, but maybe it’s better this way.

Still, on his birthday – I wanted to share some of the funniest, wildest, goofiest memories that I will always love and cherish, and that still make me smile when I think about them. 😊

The Christmas gift war (safe) gone wrong:

Every Christmas, we’d get each other regular gifts, but then we did our Christmas gift wars.

We would wrap funny gifts in tons of wrapping paper, loads of tape, zip ties, etc. to make the gift hard to open, and whoever’s gift took the longest or was the hardest to open – that’s who won the Christmas gift wars.

It was just between him and I, and our mother called us both “idiots”. We had a lot of fun for years – doing this.

Many years back, I brought him this safe and I had a cute keychain inside for him. He had to open the safe to get it to, and I was the only one who had the combination to the safe.

I told him “Good luck” opening it, and I sat there talking to family while he tried.

When I looked at him 5 minutes later, he held the safe up and showed me it was open already.

I was surprised and asked him how the hell he got it open so fast and without the combination.

He smiled and told me, “I’ve been in the military for years! You’d be surprised what I can do or open without a code, a combination or key to a lock”. 😶🤣

In my defense – that was a cheap safe from FIVE BELOW, so maybe they all have the same combination. Who knows?!

“SAY WHAT NOW?”

Another Christmas – he was wearing THESE light-up jammies when I walked in, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Our dad was in the hospital that Christmas and he said he was going to see him in these jammies.

I asked if he was serious, and he sure was! ha.

This photo above though – was when my oldest child was still alive, and her and her girlfriend at the time – were sitting next to my brother – talking about sex and the things they were going to do or try when they got back to Minnesota.

My brother was watching T.V. but when he heard them talking, he looked at them just like that – and says, “Say what now? Alright, there are just some things you can talk about when you get back to Minnesota, and not while you’re sitting next to me. I don’t want to hear that ssssshhhhhiiiiitttttt!”.

We laughed so much that night. 💕

*****

“Her escort. Her hero“

One night I’ll never forget – is the night my oldest daughter competed in the National American Miss pageant, and she needed a male to escort her on stage and off – during the evening gown part.

She was asked who she wanted to escort her and right away, she said: “Uncle Tim”.

She was so happy and he was more than happy to do so.

She didn’t win, but at the end of the night, he ended up getting her a teddy bear and told her that she’d always win HIS HEART. 🤗 She named him, “Berry Bear”, and had him all the way up until the day she passed.

Today, Berry Bear is in my “Jordan bin” with all of her other things I kept since her passing. 🥺

I wish we could go back to this night.

On to funnier memories though…………

One of my favorite memories – will always be the time he took me to a part of Wisconsin 7 hours from where I lived back home in IL. – to get a Husky puppy my now ex-husband wanted.

“Puppy gives my brother a dose of Karma”.

So, he had picked me up that morning and we were driving to this part of Wisconsin that I never even heard of. I don’t even remember where it was. Still, I had no idea that it was so far from where I lived.

I just knew the lady had Husky puppies for sale, my husband at the time wanted one, and I wanted to surprise him because it was SWEETEST DAY. I had just gotten paid, and my brother loved our long car rides together, so he didn’t mind.

That same day, Wisconsin was getting a bunch of tornado watches and warnings, the sky was changing colors as it rained, and the clouds were getting lower. We stopped at McDonalds halfway there to eat, but I couldn’t eat.

I was so nervous.

He kept joking – saying he saw one forming, and I believed it every time he did it.

Thankfully, nothing happened and we got there safely, picked a puppy, and headed back.

On the way back, the puppy was sleeping on my lap, got up all of a sudden, and walked over to my brother’s lap. He thought the puppy was going to lay down, and the puppy ended up squatting, and pooping all over my brother pants, his side of the door area, and on the floor of the driver’s side.

All I heard was, “REALLY DOG? REALLY? ON MY SIDE?”.

I couldn’t stop laughing, but my brother was such a good sport about it, and he looked at me smirking.

He wasn’t even mad. He just told me he was pulling into the next gas station and he told me, “You’re helping me clean this mess up”. I laughed harder and told him that was Karma for teasing me about those tornados earlier in the day. 😁

Before we stopped talking, I still used to tease him about all of these memories I’m writing about tonight.

*****

“Pretty sure you can hear him from way back there!”

My brother and I used to work at an Auto glass / Insurance company together.

We took calls for insurance / glass claims, connected people to glass shop companies who worked with us, and made sure they got their repairs or replacements on time. I was part of the collections department as well, so I worked double and made sure we got the payments in – when work was done.

It was small office when the owner of the company started it, and back then – it was just 7 of us in this little office. The CEO and the two supervisors were on the other side.

Of course, like any co-workers, we had small issues here and there, but we always got over it.

However – my brother and this one girl that I’ll call “Aly” – they hated each other. HATED.

Big time.

They were always arguing about something.

So, one night – it was just myself, my brother, Aly and this other guy that I’ll call Jake.

Everyone else had gone home for the night, but we stayed late.

It was boring. There was nothing going on, so I was working on a claim I had earlier in the day – that I couldn’t figure out. I was sitting at my desk looking at my computer – when a pen flew past my face.

I looked at Jake, and he was looking at his computer, but he was smiling. So, I knew it was him.

I grabbed a marker and threw that at him. We kept throwing different things back and forth – until about 7 PM when we got slammed! Calls started coming in. We started getting claims on the fax machine. We were getting emails and our computers were digging, and we got to work.

Our phones kept ringing and we were taking call after call, but – Aly – her phone would ring, and then stop. This happened a few times and it wasn’t because she was answering the calls. So, when things slowed down, Jake waited until her phone rang again – and he tip-toed over to her desk.

He watched her pick up the phone and gently – quietly place it down, so the call came to one of us instead, and that’s what she had been doing once we got slammed. She wasn’t taking calls. She was making sure she sent them our way – without us knowing.

Jake caught her though, and he yelled at her. She was on some game she was playing online instead, and he had a fit.

She ended up yelling back at him and told him to worry about why he and I were playing around – instead of working on claims we need to finish. I got up to defend myself and to tell her that as soon as calls started coming in and we started getting slammed, we started taking our calls and doing what we needed to. I told her the important thing – is that when we need to get to work, we get there.

She replied with, “I was talking to Jake, not you! Sit down, B****!”.

As soon as that word came out of her mouth, my brother jumped up and screamed so loud. All I heard him say was, “Don’t call my sister a b****!”, as he and Jake both got into it with her.

The next day when we came in, Jake was told the managers wanted to see him in the conference room. I joked that he was in trouble because if they called one of us to the back room, it was for something little or petty, but if you called into the conference room, it was serious!

Aly was already in there with the managers. She emailed them all the night before – to tell them what happened, but I’m sure she left out the part where she was playing games and dissing phone calls.

Her and Jake talked, Jake told his side of the story, and they ended up apologizing to each other. Jake came out and told me that they wanted me in there next.

I went in, we talked and everything was fine. We apologized to each other, and she took her responsibility for the night before, and that was that. They asked me to send my brother in.

My brother went in, closed the door – and this teenager that I’ll call (Marcus) ran to the door to listen.

He knew my brother hated Aly, and he knew my brother wasn’t going to be quiet about anything.

I told Marcus, “Pretty sure you can hear him from way back there!”. Marcus sat in the back, and the conference room was in front of the building. My brother was yelling so loud. Aly was yelling so loud. The entire office heard them – no matter where we were sitting. We looked back at the supervisor who sat with us in the office, and he had his head down – laughing. lol.

They were told not to talk to each other if they didn’t have to.

****

“THE FAKE BUSINESS TRIP”

This is another one of my favorite memories.

My brother once lived in a basement apartment where the window faced the parking lot, and you could easily see inside of his place – if he had his blinds open – which he usually did.

My brother was a player back then, and he was always getting caught.

One night at a club he used to D.J. at, he met a girl I’ll call Leslie. They started dating.

He realized he wasn’t really into Leslie, but instead of telling her the truth, he kept dodging her, making excuses why he couldn’t see her, and not answering her calls – but he’d answer her text messages. So, one day – she asked if she could come by. He said he was going on a business trip with our work managers, and that he had to be at the airport early in the morning, so he was going to get some sleep.

Leslie asked if she could take him to the airport, so they could spend some time together before he left.

He lied and said he was taking his car and leaving it at the airport, because it would be easier for when he gets back. She told him to let her know when he’s back, and he said “okay”. Meanwhile, he met another girl that I’ll call “Amanda”, and he started dating her. He really liked Amanda, and he knew he had to end things with Leslie, but he didn’t know how.

The next morning, Leslie messaged him and asked if she could stop by to see him before he leaves. He said he was already gone. She then asked him why his car was still in his parking lot, and said she thought he was taking it.

That should have told the dummy that this girl was at his house or passed it looking for him – if she knew his car was still there, but he doesn’t think. 🤣 He ended up lying more and telling her his friend from work picked him up and they went to the airport together.

He had no idea that Leslie and a few of her friends – were standing in the parking lot looking straight into his apartment – watching him play catch with his dog, make himself some food, watch T.V. and whatever else he was doing in that time. He also had no idea that Leslie and this other girl Amanda were friends and found out about each other. So, while he lied to Leslie – Amanda called him and asked if she could see him.

She said she was outside. He went outside – and they both confronted him right there.

He was caught.

This was back in the MYSPACE days, and I was his number 1 on his top 8. So, that’s how they knew who I was. One of their friends messaged me and told me what an A-hole my brother is, and when they told me what happened, I laughed so hard and called him.

I told him if he was going to lie to people, the least he could do is put his blinds down and close them.

He told me to ignore them. I teased him and told him this is one memory I’d never let him live down.

Our Uncle Tony was a big-time player, and my mom used to say my brother was just like my uncle.

I always disagreed with her because my uncle didn’t get caught until the day of his funeral (that’s another story) for another day, but my brother was always getting caught.

****

“The “WA-WA” wine glass”.

We were at our parents’ house one day for some reason.

I think it may have been just a Sunday / after church dinner with family.

I was talking to my mother and venting about some things going on in my life, and she was venting about her own things to me. We were just having a normal gal’s chat, and throwing our complaints out there, and when I looked at my brother – he was holding this huge wine glass.

He made me laugh so much and I almost choked on the water I was drinking – when he says, “You need the WA-WA wine glass. Made for major life problems and everything Chee!”.

He always called me CHEE. That was his nickname for me. 💕

THE PATCH.

This dude did his time in the Army, and he once went to surprise my kids at school when he came back from deployment. This was so long ago, and we were still living in Chicago, so we had to get passes for him to go to their classes.

As we sat in the office waiting for the principal, he was in uniform and I asked him what his patch meant.

,

His reply?

“I’M SEXY AS F***!”. 🤣 🙄

He’s always had a sense of humor. We both do.

CLUB DAYS:

He used to D.J. for two different night clubs in the suburbs of Chicago when we were in our 20’s.

This photo below………..

…..made me laugh so much because I remember seeing him and asking him where the RODEO was.

He said he was going to the club, and I joked about his outfit – asking him if his horse was parked in the yard. He told me, “Shut up and come with me!”.

One night when I did go with him, the bouncer wanted to know who I was. He tried flirting and asked my brother if he should “initiate me”. My brother warned him not to do it. He told this guy, “No dude! My sister is NOT the one to do that to!”. I had no idea what they were talking about – until this bouncer slapped me on the ass.

😶

When I tell you my hand automatically went back and I hit him in the stomach – I sure the heck did.

He grabbed his chest, and yelled, “Yo! That hurt! What the hell?”. My brother laughed and told him, “I warned you she wasn’t the one!”. I found out from my brother – that he had a handful of women who came in there and didn’t mind the bouncer slapping their asses. My brother’s right – I wasn’t one of them. ha. He was big a dude. He was okay. I promise.

Here – I asked him for a screenshot of something – and this is what the goofy did! lol.

The day he left for deployment I believe it was.

We were in Missouri to send the soldiers off with love. 💕

The time he was supposed to be hanging Christmas ornaments for our mother, and he realized he knew how to color coordinate. 😶🙄🤣

THE HANGMAN STORY:

This just popped into my mind, so let me jot it down.

We were in church one Sunday because my mom was big on church and expected us to go, especially on holidays. So, this one time we were there – in our 20’s – my brother grabbed the church bulletin, and instead of following along, I looked over at him – drawing the hangman game.

He did the lines on the paper, and wrote:

“WANNA PLAY?”.

It was the middle of the sermon, so everyone was quiet, and I started laughing.

I tried so hard not to laugh out loud, but you could hear me. My mother was so mad.

She looked over at me and then at my brother, and mouthed, “CUT IT OUT!”.

They say laughing when you’re not supposed to be – is some of the best laughing you will ever do, and I can’t say I disagree with that.

My brother held up the hangman on the bulletin, and my mom covered her mouth.

SHE was trying not to laugh, but we could see her starting to, and soon – we were all laughing.

It was bad.

We’re bad. I know.

I wish I could have those times back.

I truly do.

Our mother asked him to go grab some milk while we were over there one day for one of our family dinners.

He came back with three different kinds.

When I asked why, he replied with:

“I’m conducting a milk survey!”. 🤣

He said our parents weren’t answering, he didn’t know which one they wanted, so he brought three different ones.

Makes sense.

I remember him coming to see me in the hospital when I had my youngest son.

He was so scared to hold him, and when I took this photo, he walked over to me and told me, “Take it back before it spits up or something”. Truthfully, I knew he was scared. 💕I laughed and reminded him that my kid is a “him” and not an “it”.

The drunk driver:

This night was not that funny and I’m so grateful we lived to talk about it.

The cops – the EMS – they were all surprised that my brother, myself, his friend and mine – all got out of his car with only a few scratches and bruising.

We were headed to the lake – downtown Chicago one summer night many years back, and my brother was driving. He stopped at a red light, and I was looking for my lip gloss in my purse. I had my head down, and we were all talking and laughing over the loud music – until – a car flew across the intersection and slammed into us.

The guy who hit us – started pulling backwards and I made sure everyone was okay before I jumped out and jumped into HIS car. My brother didn’t hear me, so he didn’t know if I was good or not, but when he turned around – he said he saw my legs sticking out of that other car’s driver side door.

I was trying to get him to give me the keys, so he couldn’t leave the scene.

His car reeked of alcohol, and I knew he had been drinking.

The only thing funny about that night – that I remember – was that when everyone was in a parking lot talking to the cops and EMS, I was holding a little girl.

I have no idea who she was. She belonged to the guy who hit my brother’s car, and when his wife was put into the ambulance for alcohol poisoning – passed out – the guy handed me his kid and jumped into the ambulance with her.

My brother walked over to me, looked at me confused and yelled, “You’re stealing kids at car accidents, now?”. We both laughed so hard, and we needed it after that night.

He’ll still joke about it if someone talks about that night, and he’ll tell you how he thought I was hurt, but he turned around and I was out of the car faster than he could blink, and sticking out of the other guy’s car trying to grab his keys. My brother will laugh about it now, but it was scary.

So please – don’t ever drink and drive.

We did laugh when another car flew by so fast and went down the block, and the tow truck driver just randomly said, “Who the hell was that?”. One of the cops replied, “Your next call!”.

Please drive safely.

That night could have been so much worse, but I’m glad we can laugh at certain things about it now, and we’re here to talk about it.

****

THE RUNAWAY RIM:

This will be the last one because while I have so many great memories and stories – It’s late and I can’t think right now.

This one popped into my mind and I’m sitting here laughing as I write it.

So, we went cruising one day. If you had nothing to do and the weather was nice in Chicago – you went cruising. Nowhere to go, but driving around to see who is out, and what’s going on.

It was my brother driving, his best friend Tony in the passenger seat, me and my friend Julie in the back.

The music was blasting, and all of a sudden – we hit a big pothole, and we hear my brother yell, “DAMMIT! F***! SHIT! DAMN!”. All kinds of curse words.

He pulls over and gets out of the car, and we look and see one of his rims rolling down the street.

Julie and I are in the back laughing so hard, we’re in tears. He looked at both of us and gave us both the middle finger, as he closed his door and we laughed even harder when we saw him chasing his rim down the street. It kept going. He kept going. 🤣

As soon as he closed the door – the song “IT’S SO HARD” by BIG PUN was on the radio, and the part where he says, “Spun the U-ey, lost a hubcap” – played. When Tony laughed with us and said he didn’t want to laugh in front of my brother – the tears from laughing so hard were amazing. lol.

Those were good times.

So, even if we’re not talking anymore – I remember every little funny, goofy memory and we do have so many memory I can’t think of right now – that I’ll forever cherish no matter what.

Happy birthday to my little brother, and I thank him for all the good times and the good laughs growing up and way into our adult years.

Goodnight loves.

💕Shel💕

Maggie and I – may break up soon, saying goodbye to a great man, and A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my bestie!

Maggie and I – may break up soon, saying goodbye to a great man, and A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my bestie!

Shel R.6 Comments

So, yesterday – I tried to trade “Maggie” in – for a family SUV.

Something bigger for road trips.

Something with more family space for the kids when we’re in the car.

Something where we can pack tons of stuff into it and still have room.

My car is pretty, but it’s definitely not a family car. It’s way too small, and I didn’t think about that when I got it a few years ago. My car falls into the same class as Audi’s, and I’ve gotten many compliments on how much people love it. Some have even thought it was a BMW when they first see it, and I’ve had to correct them, but that’s how nice it looks.

It’s a foreign headache!

It’s expensive to fix if anything goes wrong. Some parts have to be ordered or come from overseas. I’m ready to break up with this damn car.

I’m ready to get rid of it, and yes – I named it “Maggie” when I first got it.

My last car before Maggie – was a Ford Explorer and I absolutely loved that SUV. It had so much space.

That was “Stanley”. 🤣 I figured I would try to trade Maggie in – for another Ford Explorer. My last one went into a ditch in the beginning of 2021, and I got Maggie in July 2021.

I called this car dealership near my area yesterday morning and told the guy who answered – what I was looking for. I told him if he didn’t have any Explorer’s, I’d take a decent sized family SUV that was priced right if I could trade my car in. He told me to come on in, and as soon as I walked in – we didn’t even sit down in his office to chat first.

He held up keys and handed them to me – as I thought to myself – “(This must be what celebs with tons of money feel like walking into dealers)”.

I asked what he was putting me into, and he said a 2025 Ford Explorer. He pointed to where it was located, so I could go test drive it, as I handed him my keys to test drive mine and figure out a trade-in value for it. My daughter was with me, and she made me giggle when we got into this fancy and beautiful SUV – and she said, “Let’s go to Chicago!”. I made her laugh when I told her, “I mean – he technically didn’t say where to test drive the car to! If I should happen to end up in Chicago, that wasn’t my fault because he wasn’t clear!”. 😁

I loved the SUV. The screen on it looked like the size of a laptop screen. It was a push to start – (but so is mine), and the Drive, reverse, etc. – was just a knob you turn, and it does this fancy dinging noise. I WANTED IT!!!!!

I test drove it, and my daughter asked if I was eventually going to turn around and go back, because I just kept driving and driving. I told her I was taking in the new car smell and the new car feel, but I did turn around and go back.

I walked in and told the car sales guy that I wanted it, and we talked numbers.

Here’s the thing.

As much as everything in me screamed “TAKE IT!!!!!” – and I know I truly deserve it and wanted to give it to myself as a graduation gift for the last 4 years of working my ass off for my Criminal justice degrees – another part of me was trying to scream some COMMON SENSE into my mind. Truth is – my car is almost paid off, and I don’t have that long to go – so instead of getting myself into a mess with getting a new $50,000 SUV and having years and years of more payments – I can just pay off the car I have now, and save money to drop a good down payment on something a little less expensive.

I can’t wrap my head around paying $50,000 for a brand-new SUV when I want to drop a down payment on a house this year or next year.

I really had to think about it, and I’m not rapper – rich – as I call it. I can’t just say, “I’ll take it”, and know I have a million in the bank still.

I’m a single mom – just barely getting by, and as much as I know I want it, love it and deserve it – it took everything in me to walk away from it. 🥺 He mentioned something about putting down $4,000 and leasing it for three years, and if I want to own it from there, or trade it for something else – I can do that.

I still walked away.

When I got back in my car – I was a little sad about it, but it just made sense to not get myself into another car note that would possibly be a headache in the future. I have no idea why or how cars are so expensive these days, but it’s sad what this world has come to – when it comes to money and everything being way overpriced.

Yes, I probably could have leased it if I wanted to, or even made a huge down payment on it, and taken it soon – but I know it’s not in my best interest, and I also know there’s other SUVs out there – that are way less money and are still in beautiful condition, so I passed. Not to mention – they weren’t going to give me much for my car.

I did have to laugh when I said I was so tired of the car I have now, and the sales guy mentioned that I could just leave it on the lake. I told him, “As soon as the ice starts to melt”, and we both laughed.

I still may look around and trade my car in for something bigger – better – and with less headaches or payments, but right now – I also know I want to get the hell out of Minnesota this summer, so I have to play it smart.

I’ll update on the car situation when and if “Maggie” gets traded one day soon.

*****

In other news, you all know my son and I work in a facility that houses the once homeless, some small-time criminals, drug and alcoholic addicts, and some with mental health issues – right?

One of things we messed up on and did – was get close to them.

I don’t regret it because while our city doesn’t want to deal with them, and anyone who hears where they live – cringes and tries to avoid them – our staff – including my son and I – know them personally. We know that a lot of them are so sweet, amazing, helpful, funny, smart, etc. We care deeply about the tenants in our facility we work in, and we try so much to show them compassion, love, care, understanding, etc.

I say we messed up getting close to them – because it’s always heartbreaking – having to say “goodbye” to one of them if one leaves, or one passes.

A few weeks ago, we had one that passed away. We got close to her, and she was such a sweet and funny little firecracker of a person.

We then had one that decided to move out. That was sad because I looked forward to seeing her every day, or hearing her give attitude playfully and yell, “WHAT?” – every time I called her room, or she was down the hall. She’d laugh when I’d tell her, “You know what? Now I don’t want to talk to you!”.

A few days ago, one of our other tenants that I’ll call “Dave” – went to the hospital. Dave has some health issues that are getting worse, and the last two weeks – the hospital sent him right back, but a few days ago, he was admitted and was sent to ICU. He’s not doing well, and the day before last – my son and I went up to visit him – since most of our other staff did so as well.

He was sleeping when we got there, and I called his name twice before he opened his eyes, saw us and smiled. I held a straw up to his mouth, because he was struggling to drink water. They brought him his dinner, and he had us smiling when he complained – in short whispers – that he doesn’t want three meals a day.

We joked that there’s nobody to keep us on our toes at work, and he has to come back to yell at people or instigate things like he used to. He smiled.

We had a great visit, and we laughed so much when he whispered something a few times, and when we couldn’t understand him, it took everything in him to yell out, “$5!”. He wanted money. I laughed and asked where the heck he plans to go if he gets $5. He had no idea, but then he asked for his check. Our tenants get checks every month – I believe it is, so I told him they’d hold on to his checks for him – until he came back.

He had us laughing when he smiled and whispered, “Bring me my portion up here”. 😁 He’s in ICU and he can still joke around. He has Oxygen and can barely breath or talk, but he can still joke around, and I loved that. I miss that at work, and seeing him every time I walk in. Some of our tenants get alcohol portions to stop withdrawal symptoms, so that’s what he was talking about.

A few weeks ago – before he went to the hospital, I walked in at 7 AM and he was waiting for me like usual, and yelled out, “THERE SHE IS!”….but – this time – I had to tell him no. He wanted his portion, and I told him, “It’s not happening!”. He looked at me so funny and confused and asked why not. I told him I heard he hasn’t been eating breakfast or lunch, and he can’t live on alcohol alone. He got upset, but you know what he did……………..?

Marched himself right to the kitchen and ate something.

We have another guy there – a younger guy that I’ll call “Noah”. Noah is in an on and off again relationship with one of the women who live in the facility, and he gets so jealous over her, so when he found out she may be dating a new guy, he flipped out one day.

As I was trying to calm him down, Dave chimed in while he was listening, and yelled, “She’s with everyone! What is he complaining about? Leave her alone!”. My jaw dropped, and I prayed Noah didn’t hear him from across the room because it would have angered Noah even more – while I was trying to calm him down. I turned and told Dave to please behave and be quiet – as he laughed!

That’s the Dave I’ll forever remember.

Funny. Sarcastic. Loud. Vocal. Stubborn. Wild. Crazy. Fun. Silly.

I wasn’t there the night he went to the hospital, but they sent him back to the facility many times before, so I thought he’d be back. We had no idea that this time – he may not be. This time – may really be the end.

The night we were in the ICU to see him – when we said we were leaving the hospital, but we’d be back this weekend to see him again, he gave my son a fist-bump, and he grabbed my hand. I held his hand for a few minutes as he looked so tired and drained. His breathing was shallow, and he started closing his eyes. I told him to get some rest, and again -that we’d be back this weekend.

But – as I tried to pull my hand away gently, he squeezed it and wouldn’t let go. 🥺 He broke my heart when he whispered with his eyes closed – “Everyone left”. I whispered to my son that Dave wasn’t letting go, and we both felt bad. I almost wanted to pull up a chair and tell the nurses we’ll be there overnight, but we couldn’t do that.

I held his hand until I thought he was sleeping, and I tried to pull my hand away again, but he opened his eyes and squeezed my hand again – holding on once more. So, I held his hand, watched him close his eyes again, and I sat there with my son – in silence – looking at the T.V. with no sound – as we watched it.

Eventually, I did pull away slowly, and tell him we’re praying for him, and we love him.

I couldn’t turn around and look as we walked away, but my son did – and he said Dave was watching us leave with this sadness in his eyes. My son mentioned, “I don’t think he wants to be alone”. Once we left that room – the tears fell.

I cried so much. I cried on the way out of the hospital. I cried in the car. I was still crying on the way home.

I know Dave probably won’t live much longer and it crushes me.

I’ll always remember him as the vibrant, goofy man that walked around with humor, talking shit to everyone.

We do plan to go back Saturday and see him again if he’s still here on this earth, and I’m going to miss that man so much when he leaves it. 😶

*****

Before I get out of here, I have to share that today is my best friend’s 44th birthday.

Her name is Trish.

She and I met in 2nd grade when we were both 7-years-old.

We met because of the class clown, and we’ve stayed friends all these years.

We have so many funny and great memories together, and I’d be here forever if I were to share them all – but I just wanted to make you giggle and share a few of them – while also celebrating her day. 💕

The Twins (but NOT!) story:

She and I used to tell everyone we were fraternal twins. (Not identical) – obviously.

Many people believed us.

For example – in 6th grade – we had this boy James in our class who didn’t at first, and said if we were really twins, he wanted to see a photo of us when we were little. We had no idea how we were going to make that happen, but that night – my best friend Trish – called me and told me, “I have an idea!”. Her cousins were fraternal twins, and she had a photo of them when they were babies.

One has blonde hair and blueish eyes, which Trish has – and one has brown hair and Hazel eyes – which I have, so she brought that photo to school the next day and showed James. He absolutely believed us after that – thinking that was us when we were babies, so we started telling more people who didn’t know us – that we were fraternal twins. (James was new at the time) and didn’t really know us.

We went to the mall one day, and we were in the photo booth taking photos. When we got out of it, an elderly woman smiled at us – as she sat on the bench next to it – enjoying her ice cream. She said her and best friend used to do the same thing when they were our ages.

We were teenagers at the time, and we started talking to her and told her we were actually fraternal twins. She asked when our birthday was, and without really thinking about it, I told her my real birthday and Trish told her when her birthday was. Mine is in June. Trish’s – January, so of course – the lady asked, “Well, how are you fraternal twins if your birthdays are six months apart?”. We just looked at each other, laughed and realized we needed to get our birthdays straight if we were going to pretend to be twins.

After that, we settled on some birthday – same day and agreed to tell people that was ours. 😁

We’ve even been STEP-SISTERS! (Story).

We went to high school together and we always told the teachers we were stepsisters.

Nobody ever questioned it.

One day, our homeroom teacher said he had to have a talk with our parents because we had both been cutting classes, and he wanted our parents to know. He asked who he should get ahold of, and because we said her dad was married to my mom, the homeroom teacher said he would probably call them both.

We had NO IDEA what to say or do – but we were sure that our little “stepsisters” story was about to end.

Oddly enough, my mom and her dad said they would come in, but lucky for us – they would be there at different times that same day – as they both worked. They had no idea we were telling teachers we were stepsisters.

So, her dad came in first.

I was headed back from my locker and while I was walking down the hall to homeroom – Trish was standing outside the room with the teacher and her dad. We both gave each other scared and nervous looks, as we smirked and we both heard the teacher tell her dad, “Her and her stepsister”. We still don’t think her dad heard it to this day because he didn’t say anything about it, but MY MOM – she caught it fast.

When the teacher told her, “Her and her stepsister” – my mother was confused and asked, “STEPSISTER? She doesn’t have a stepsister!”. My mom was the one who ended that stepsister stuff.

🤣

“CHAT ROOM? WHAT’S THAT?”

One of the best memories we have together – is one 4th of July when I went to her house a few years back, and we were sitting on the porch having a few drinks – while my kids played with her nieces and nephew.

Next door to her – there was a teenage boy who lived there, and he liked to come outside and bug us whenever I was there. This one day, he was outside – and he kept running his mouth trying to insult us and make us mad. We kept ignoring him because we’re two grown ass women – who could care less about a teenager talking shit to us. lol.

When he said, “You guys are so old, you probably used AOL chat rooms before, and you were around when they were around!” – Trish had me laughing so hard when she asked him, “What’s an AOL chat room?”, and said that sounds fun.

He looked so shocked and asked, “You don’t know what a chat room online is? For real?”. She said no and asked how to use one. We were laughing and laughing, and this teenage couldn’t believe it. He started explaining chat rooms to us and said we can talk with people on the Internet. Trish laughed so much when I asked this teenage boy, “What the hell is the Internet?”. He looked at us shocked, placed his hand on his face and said, “This is going to be a long day!”. Trish asked – through laughter – “What’s this Chat you speak of?”.

He really believed we had no idea, and he ended up shaking his head, told us “You guys are hopeless”, and went inside – as we laughed the entire time. He probably called his friends and told them, “The middle-aged women next door have no idea what the internet or chat rooms are! Can you believe that?”. 🤣🤣🤣

Of course we do! We were in AOL chat rooms on the internet before he was even though of! ha.

“The BOX – phone bill problem“:

Another memory I’ll never forget and we still laugh about – is when we were teenagers and back then in the early 90’s – the BOX (Channel 13) I believe it was – was super popular.

The BOX – was where you could call in on your landline phone, dial three numbers to any video you wanted to see – as the numbers to those videos scrolled at the bottom of the screen, and they’d play those videos you requested. The cool thing was – you could see people’s video choice numbers being typed in as people called in. The bad thing was – each video cost between .99 – $3.99 and would charge your parents phone bills.

We didn’t realize that when we were calling to request videos.

When my mom got her phone bill one month and she called me downstairs SCREAMING – because it was over $300 – she was SO MAD and demanded to know what THE BOX was. I got grounded, and she ended up having our phone company block THE BOX phone number.

My best friend was there when my mom yelled at me and got the phone bill, so I laughed when she told me she better go home and see if her parents got their phone bill.

Good times!

“Shaving cream gone wrong!”

Our 8th grade graduation field trip – was to Springfield, IL. – to go see Lincoln’s home and some other places.

The night before, I spent that night at Trish’s, so we could leave at 5:30 AM together, walk to school and be there on time to get on the buses with our class.

We couldn’t sleep because we were excited and kept talking all night and watching movies.

Finally, around 3 AM – we started getting tired, and felt like we should probably go to sleep, but she had the idea of grabbing shaving cream, going into her brother’s room, and putting it all over his head. She did that, and at 4 AM when we decided to get one hour of sleep – her brother came out of his room, sat on the couch and we couldn’t stop laughing.

He called us idiots. He asked why we were laughing. He told us we were stupid. He told us we have problems.

We were laughing too hard to care what he was saying – as we saw all the shaving cream spread out all over his hair.

Finally, he went to use the bathroom, saw all the shaving cream in the mirror, and went to tell their father.

Their father woke up, had him wash his hair, and screamed at us.

Their father told us we had to be up early and should be sleeping, not messing around. He yelled that we were immature, and he shouldn’t be up dealing with our bullshit at that time of morning. He went on and on.

But………….

When Trish’s brother went back to his bedroom, their dad looked and made sure he was in there – before he looked at us, smiled and whispered, “Next time – do it right! You put it in his hand and tickle his nose!”. We laughed so much, as their dad giggled and went back to bed. 😁

We’ve had so many fun memories, and we’ve always been there for each other through some the toughest times in our lives.

I am so grateful for our friendship and that it’s lasted 32+ years and still going strong, so today – I want to say a very big

to my best friend, Trish!

Your friendship has gotten me through so much, and while I keep my circle small these days – I am so happy to still have you in it. 💕

I love you, TWIN / Stepsister. haha.

Some fun photos of us.

This is when she grabbed my little guy when he was just a baby and rocked him to sleep.

Trish always says she doesn’t like kids, so on this day – I told her it looks like she LOVES them. She laughed and told me, “Only when I can rock them to sleep and hand them back to their parents!”.

I believe this was the 4th of July when the kid next door had to explain what AOL CHAT and the internet were. Kid, we were AMERICA ONLINE and AOL chat long before your parents thought you into existence.

One of my favorite photos of us! 🙂

To everyone else, I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend.

The weather is starting to get decent, but you never know around this damn state.

Love you!

💕Shel💕

A little bit of Nostalgia.

A little bit of Nostalgia.

Shel R.6 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What makes you feel nostalgic?
View all responses

Good morning!

As I sit here with my coffee, I had to answer today’s WP writing prompt because I just saw a video on TikTok that actually made me shed a few tears (literally) when I woke up.

I was still in bed, but I always check the news, the weather, my messages, missed calls, etc. and then – I’ll scroll the TOK for a bit if I have time or nothing to do. I don’t work today, so – as I was scrolling the TOK – the video I saw this morning had some sad music playing in the background and the video said:

“It’s almost 2026. That means that 1996 was 30 years ago! What was your life like back then?”.

Yes, I shed a few tears, because – what do you mean 1996 was 30 years ago?

The first thing I thought about when I saw that video – was “Damn, I graduated 8th grade in 1996 and started high school months later”.

I giggled as I thought back to 8th grade and especially – all the good times in high school.

One of my favorite memories has always been sitting in my English class when it started, and one of my good friends being late. She was trying to run into class before the teacher took attendance, and she ended up falling and sliding into the class – so her body was half in and half out of the door. We were both laughing and I yelled, “SAFE!!!! HOME RUN!!!!”. She got a detention for being late because the bell already rang, and when the teacher told me to come up and get my detention, I asked what for?!

“Screaming in my classroom for no good reason and disrupting the class”.

Me: THE CLASS IS LAUGHING, TOO!

I still got the detention. lol.

Memories like that – make me smile and make me feel NOSTALGIC.

In high school – there was a time where my best friends and I would cut classes once-in-a-while.

DO NOT RECOMMEND!

If you’re young, go to class and do well. I wish I could go back in time and do things over – the right way.

Anyway, there was a day when my best friend and I planned to cut the entire day of school and go to one of our favorite malls, but when we walked out the back door of the high school, her dad was parked right there. I guess he heard our phone conversation the night before and he was ready to take us right back into school – which he did. 🤣

I remember screaming on one side of the hall – to friends’ way on the other side of the hall – and everyone in between – laughing because we were loud. I remember driving our favorite teachers crazy, and everyone in my circle taking up three or four lunch tables because there were so many of us who got along and loved the hell out of each other. 💕

I miss high school if I’m being honest, and those were some of the best days of my life.

Those memories make me feel NOSTALGIC.

Seeing items from back then that I used or had – makes me feel Nostalgic.

Not just the memories of those happier times.

Do you remember the Tamagotchi era?

I had one of these and so did many of the kids in my high school.

I remember many of us trying to sneak and check on our pets during class. I remember getting in trouble over these in class when they made noises because our pets were thirsty, or hungry, or needed to use the bathroom. 😁 I had mine connected to my jeans or book bag and finally – classes started to ban them.

AND – THE DIAL UP CONNECTIONS BACK THEN – WERE WILD.

America Online was super popular back in 1996, and it took forever to get online.

It used the same line as our housephones, and if the phone rang – the connection to AOL was lost.

We’d have to start the long sign on process all over again.

If my parents needed to use the phone, I’d have to get offline, and tell friends I was chatting with, “BRB”.

(Be right back). ha.

Do you remember the awful sound it made while it was trying to connect? If not – or you’re too young to remember it – let me show you what I dealt with – what many kids dealt with – back in the 90s trying to get online. We didn’t have good WI-FI or any at all back then.

Try being a kid in the 90’s – knowing you’re supposed to be in bed – but wanting to chat with friends online and risking your parents hearing these sounds as you try to sneak chat late at night. 🤣

This makes me feel Nostalgic.

When the Chicago Bulls won the 1996 Championship – the world and Chicago of course – went absolutely wild!!!!

When people still talk about it today, it gives me a great sense of Nostalgia. 😁

I was at my best friend’s house spending the night when this took place.

Her, I, her brother and sister and the teens from next door to her house – were all outside and when they won. Cars were honking like crazy; people were yelling out of car windows, fireworks were going off all over, and people were celebrating that win.

A car past by her house, beeped and people were cheering, so her brother started screaming and cheering.

It was late at night, and her mother looked out of their 3rd floor window and called us inside. When we went upstairs and asked why, she told my best friend’s brother, “You’re making too much noise!”. He replied, “So is the rest of Chicago!”. My best friend and I couldn’t help but laugh, so her mother turned around, put her hands on her hips and told us, “Girls! Don’t encourage him!”.

This magazine back then was EVERYTHING and anytime a photo of it pops up somewhere online – or I hear someone talking about it now – it makes me giggle but makes me sad a little. Totally makes me feel Nostalgic. I used to get this magazine in the mail every month when I was a teenager and into my early 20s, and I’d always have to order something from it.

The fashion was definitely unique, and some of the ways those modeling the clothes took the photos – were hilarious. Who was subscribed to get this? DON’T LIE. haha.

It’s not around anymore. They created some knock-off version but it’s nothing like this one.

These magazines were favorites of mine – as well as many other teens back in the 90s:

Remember when Jonathan Taylor Thomas was all teen girls’ dream boy?

Then ………………..

Semi-Now……

(Photo taken from US Weekly. This was him back in 2023, so he has changed a bit once again).

Back to the magazines though –

I used to buy so many copies of different magazines back then, and they came with posters inside.

I miss those days, and again – they make me feel Nostalgic when I hear someone talking about them or see old copies of these magazines. I don’t think they’re around anymore, but I could be wrong. I don’t know what this new generation has now.

I remember one of mine and my best friend’s favorite teen rap groups back then – was KRIS KROSS.

I also remember when she got the very last magazine that had them in it. I was a little jealous, but she was nice enough to let me borrow it. lol.

I was so excited when I got the last copy of their cassette at Kmart when “Totally Krossed out” came out.

That’s what it looked like.

They started the trend back then of people wearing some of their clothes backwards.

Hell, a few months ago – I purchased a small stereo off Amazon with a CD and cassette player, pulled out a bag of Cassettes I still have – and that alone – made me feel Nostalgic.

I had some good times and I think – if I’m being honest – us 90s kids had it great.

My older son says the 90s looks like they were a lot of fun, and he wishes he was able to live through those years, but he was born in 2003. 😊 The 90s were the best, and when I think back to those times, those memories, everything great we had before WI-FI and social media, before smartphones, and all this other technology – life was good.

When we got to ride around and be kids all day.

When we knew it was time to go home – when the streetlights came on.

When we knew where all our friends were – by where all the bikes on the lawn were.

When a piece of gum costs .5-.25 cents for Bazooka – and they came with the comics inside.

When all our family members were still alive and well, and summer days were spent catching fireflies and playing RED ROVER, RED LIGHT – GREEN LIGHT, or WATERCOLORS on the steps of the elementary school by the house.

When we all ran to our houses to get money when we heard the ice cream truck coming and lived just a block or two away from each other.

All of this – makes me feel Nostalgic.

I miss it all and there’s so many other memories, items of Nostalgia – and places I could write about, but I just wanted to jot down a few that came to my mind this morning, as I answered the WP writing prompt, and after I saw that video on TIKTOK about how 1996 was 30 years ago, and it made me tear-up a bit.

It seems like just yesterday, but it’s so far gone, it’s sad.

We did have it good, and the 90s were amazing.

From me graduating 8th grade and starting high school – to all my memories back then, good times, and things I remember or had – it was the best.

One other memory that comes to mind and makes me laugh – is when my best friend slept over one day, and I had my bedroom on the 2nd floor – front of the house, so if I opened the three big windows I had in my bedroom – I could easily climb out onto the this little awning / almost like a roof on the house.

I would go out there and sit on summer nights and just look up at the sky while everyone else slept.

The night my best friend slept over back in high school – we were playing TRUTH OR DARE, and she dared me to go out into the roof and yell, “I LOVE YOU, JAKE!”. (Not his real name, but I’m totally not putting his real name here) – although – he’s deceased now sadly.

He was a teenage boy – a little older than us – who lived a few houses down from where I grew up, and I had the biggest crush on him. My best friend knew that.

Little did I know – that he and his friends were outside at 2 AM – when this dare took place, and I took it!

I climbed out on this little roof, and yelled “I LOVE YOU, JAKE!” – thinking there’s no way he’d hear it.

IMAGINE MY SHOCK – and embarrassment – when Jake yelled back, “I LOVE YOU, TOO!”.

🤣🤣🤣🤣❤️😶😶😶😶😶❤️🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have never climbed back in that window so fast….. !!!!

My best friend couldn’t stop laughing.

I think I avoided Jake after that night.

The reason I couldn’t see that he and his friends were outside – was because there was a huge pine tree right next to our house that blocked the view to his.

I think we were only 15 at that time.

NOSTALGIC memories are totally the best!!!!!

They make me feel like I’m young again, and they’re bitter-sweet.

Another thing that makes me feel Nostalgic – is the sound of a lawn mower running on a hot summer day.

My dad used to always cut the grass in front of our house and in back, and I love the smell of fresh cut grass.

So, when I hear a lawn mower and smell the grass – I think of my younger years.

Road trips – I remember road trips to Michigan to visit family, and Pennsylvania for Family reunions, so now – when my kids and I take road trips anywhere – I think of the crazy days when my mom had to make sure that we packed everything we needed, made sandwiches for the road, and spent hours trying to stop my brother and I from fighting in the car – as I do now sometimes – with my kids. 🤣 Only – I don’t make sandwiches to put in the cooler with pop, and snacks like my parents did.

We just stop and eat somewhere.

Still – road trips make me feel Nostalgic.

I miss that time in life.

When all was good and the weight of the world wasn’t on my shoulders.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading other people’s Nostalgic answers.

Have a beautiful day my loves.

AND – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I know I said it already, but that’s okay.

❤️Shel❤️