It’s always fun to add to my list of people who know I’m crazy.
We left out for Pigeon Forge around 7 am, and stopped in Montgomery at the Waffle House for breakfast. After we ate, we got back on the road, and as we stopped at a light, I started cutting up at my daughter, who’s riding behind my husband on his bike. They’re to my right – I’m waving my arms, ‘dancing’, making faces, pretending to talk on a cell phone (my hand), just generally acting crazy. I hear laughter to my left- I didn’t realize we had company. The guys in the pickup truck in the next lane were enjoying my little show… they asked where we were headed, and we told them Pigeon Forge. They wished us a safe trip, and we were on our way!

It always amazes me to watch someone make a snap judgment about a person, simply by the way they look: if a person is overweight, they’re lazy; if they wear glasses, they’re smart; and if they’re bikers, they’re obviously in a gang that’s just robbed the church.
For some reason, black leather, doo rags, tattoos and biker boots means bad news, to adults, at least… a little kid usually has a totally different take on things. For example, while on our way home from Pigeon Forge, we stopped for a rest break. As we were walking towards the bathrooms, a little blonde cutie-pie came out holding her grandmother’s hand. She took one look at my husband (big ol’ teddy bear of a guy: full beard and mustache, dark glasses, gloves and boots, a smile as wide as the horizon and of course, a doo rag) and said “look, Grandma, a pirate!” with a big smile. Then she spotted me and said, “oh, another pirate!” She  made fast friends with my husband and talked to him for several minutes. We almost always get smiles and waves from kids.
We’ve had a few negative responses as well, usually from adults. They either don’t like how we look, or that we’re riding motorcycles. They look like they smell something bad…
But those folks are in the minority – most folks are about as friendly as they can be – I smile and they smile back. One little old lady at a bank patted my arm just like my grandma would have, and said, ‘honey you just have air conditioning all the time, don’t you? you be safe out there!” and then walked on with a smile.I always try to smile and be friendly towards other folks, to reach out to them and show them it’s OK to smile at me and say hello.
I think the folks who judge me and mine harshly are those whose deepest heart’s desire was once to ride, but something kept them from it – either fear, whether of judgment or of an accident; or someone with authority over them refused to let them ride.
So, I guess I should pity those who look down on us – they either want to be where we are, but don’t have the strength to do it, or they think we’re less than them because of who and what we are. Maybe we look like we’re having too good a time to care whether our hair is combed, or that I’m not wearing makeup; maybe they can see on our faces that we’re doing something enjoyable and don’t care what others think; or maybe they just never learned to be happy. Either way, I’m sorry for them…
In the end, my newest patch says it all: Judge me all you want, just keep your verdict to yourself.

Our county has truly served her country well- we have many veterans living among us, from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam and all the way to current-day conflicts.
I read a statistic that our country, on average, is losing over one thousand World War II veterans every day, and that’s not counting vets from other wars. What are we doing to insure that the history within those men and women doesn’t die with them? And more importantly, what are we doing to make sure all veterans know we hold them in honor and respect?
Whether we agree with the wars they fought in or not, we owe these men and women a debt of gratitude we can never repay.
I’d like to challenge you to do two things. First, if you know of someone who is a veteran, spend time with them. Get to know them- at some point, they may want to share their experiences with you. Whether they do or not, make sure you tell them how much you appreciate the sacrifices they made for you and your family.
Second, remember that we have many veterans who are buried in cemeteries in our area- and many of those cemeteries depend on the family members for maintenance. I’ve seen some graves that have gone untended, either because the family has moved away or died, or because family members are no longer able to keep them clean. If each one of us adopted a grave and made an effort to keep it cleaned up, what a difference it would make! The simple act of placing a small flag on the grave would be another way to show honor to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Someone once said we live in the land of the free, because of the brave. Please remember to thank those brave men and women who answered the call of their country.

Newer Posts »