Waffle House Musings & Lists...

Every so often, Claude and I get our morning started and then one of us looks at the other says, "How about going to Waffle House for breakfast?" This is usually followed by the other say, "Sounds good to me." Whereupon we both begin to prepare ourselves to load in the bright yellow Jeep and head to Exit 129 to the closest Waffle House. This morning I made the suggestion, Claude did the agreeing, and the Jeep did the carrying. I kept listening to our server and she called everyone 'baby'. I just felt very much at my 'Southern' roots as I listened to this familiar term. I became aware that I'm really falling back into my Southern expressions because I use 'honey' and 'sugar' a lot when I refer to people. Then I thought about how much Claude loves pulling up to a drive-thru window and the person taking the order say, "Is there anything else honey?". Or when he pays they say, "Have a nice day honey?" I love the words. They make me feel safe and loved like they did when I was a little kid in Louisiana. Every time you went to Church you knew you would get lots of hugs and kisses from everyone and you would be called 'honey' and/or 'sugar' a lot. They seem way too familiar sounding in today's tense world with it's caution for improper behavior. But from my youth I have appreciated these familiar terms. When Papa moved here with Mimi and she was still a lot more coherent that she is today, he left her one day at my home for the day so he could take a break. He kissed her and said, "Good-bye baby, I'll see you later." He has called my mother 'baby' all of their married life. It is and always will be a 'term of endearment' from him to her. During the day Mimi managed to tell me that she didn't like Papa treating her like a 'baby'. It suddenly clicked. When Papa came back I had to tell him that his calling Mimi a 'baby' was making her think she was being treated like one. Now he can call her that all he pleases and she just turns up her head and smiles with her big brown eyes and get a kiss. But for that brief period of time when she was losing her understanding by connecting things, it was not a pleasant thing for her. I had my Sudoku book with me at Waffle House. While waiting for our food, I made a list in the back cover of things I wanted to accomplish today. Camp Christensen starts next week and I only have 4 days to be ready. So I made a short list of the things I felt were most important to accomplish today. Claude's cell phone rang just before we got home and he pulled into the driveway and talked with Cindy, the city clerk, for a few minutes. I sat there finishing my Sudoku puzzle. When we finished Claude suggested something for me to do. I assured him I had made a list of my "to do's" for the day and was going to go inside and get started while he planted the new trees and things he bought yesterday. He looked at me from his door of the car and said, "Am I on your list?" Oh...my...heck!!! I quickly opened the Sudoku book to the back cover, pulled out the pen, and across the top of my list in capital letters and underlined I quickly wrote Claude and assured him he was at the top of my list. I got one of those 'knowing' looks and we both broke into laughter. So, honey's, dears', sweeties', sugars', baby's, whatever you choose to use...Have a great day. Mine has started out remembering good feeling things and having a great breakfast of grits with extra butter, bacon and toast and a good chuckle with my 'honey'!!