Athletic Hippos

Raoul’s Two Cents: January 19, 2024

Start of Life

The big event for me this week is the birth of my granddaughter! We’re so thankful for our healthy bundle of joy and her healthy Mom. She’s everything we prayed for … down to the dimples. I have friends who have difficulty getting pregnant and others who experienced complications so I don’t take this gift for granted. God is good.

I gazed at her little fingers and her angelic little face that can fit my large wrinkled hands. It wasn’t that long ago when I stared at her mother the same way. To think that my little girl has her own caboodle makes me nostalgic. Suddenly, I am also old. The circle of life continues — Ahhhh Zabenyaaa! Bagithi Babaaaa! The music from the Lion King plays in my head. The deafening drumbeat echo as I raise the precious little jewel and walk to the edge of the mountain for all the world to see. In the corner of my eye, I see Elton John with his toothless grin as he bangs those rock n roll keyboards …

I’m so dramatic … so corny, huh? I can imagine my little girl smiling as she reads this article years in the future. And she’ll say her grandpa was such a ham.

Seriously, what will she think of me? What will all my kids and grand kids think of me when I am gone? What will my legacy be? I bet you think like this sometimes. Let’s try to make the most of the short time we have left and leave a legacy our family will be proud of.

My thoughts race back to my own childhood. I see my mother and father laughing at my antics. I used to make them laugh a lot with my guttural Louie Armstrong impression singing “What a wonderful world” … complete with wiping the sweat from my brow with a handkerchief … Oh yeah, such a ham!

One time, my brother and I made my grandma laugh so hard. She was having a loud party and my brother tried to whisper something in her ear but she couldn’t understand. I think she got tickled. Then she started to giggle and then laugh and, to the horror of everyone present, she darted towards the bathroom but it was too late — the “dam burst wide open” and pee trickled down my grandmother’s legs. And the crowd grew wild! Our sides hurt from laughing.

All of our lives are filled with happy memories … lots of sad ones too I’m sure, but that can be expected in any family. It’s these emotional roller coaster moments that are the spice of life. Life is good! Life is exciting! Life is a blessing!

TGIF people!

Raoul

“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Dan of Glendale, CA

Parting Shots

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Brandy of Silver Spring, MD

I found these:

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with this.

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