2015 Furlough: "3 Stories!"

The Day Grandma Grew 2 Inches

We were shopping in the clothing section at Freddies, and it seems we were noticed by a middle-aged man in a mobility scooter shopping cart.  As Grandma passed him by, he pointed to her and said in a loud voice, "I like you!  You're cool!"  Grandma's face lit up like a Christmas tree.  She seemed to stand up taller.  As we walked away, she confided that it had been years since a man had complimented her like that.  She repeated that statement 2 times in the next 5 minutes.  The moral of the story:  I should remember to compliment older men when appropriate, and Dan should compliment older women...much older women.


The Day It Rained On Drew

The sky was looking ominous.  The softball game across the street stopped.  Drew went outside to investigate the situation.  Thunder rumbled, lightening flashed...and then it started to rain.  Drew remained at his post, anxiously scanning the sky.  Could a tornado be on the way?  The rain fell harder, but the thunder rolled away.  Then Drew lifted his arms in the pouring wet rain and grinned up at the sky.  There he remained for quite awhile, enjoying the moment, anxiety gone.


The Hungry Door

Today we went to a nearby town to help Grandma renew her driver's license.  (It had expired just before she came to New Zealand for a visit.)  All proceeded just as normal until I tried to enter the Grundy courthouse.  Grandma went through the door leading to the elevator just on the other side, then Dan did the same.  By the time I came through there was not a lot of room between the door and the elevator. The automatic door thought I'd taken long enough to get through and started to close.  It caught my handbag and I couldn't get out of the way.  The door was pulling me back into it's jaws.  As I jerked away and stumbled into Grandma and Dad, the elevator door opened.  I quickly made it to the back, at the furthest corner from the door that tried to eat me.  The elevator stopped and the back wall of it opened onto our floor.  Surprised, I wobbled out.  Gathering my dignity, I walked with the rest of the group and tried my best to be well-behaved.  Grandma successfully got her license renewed and we made our way out to exit the building. When we got to the hungry door to leave, I quickly walked through and was the first person out.  Then I waited a fair distance away for the other two to catch up.