immediate family
Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.
APRIL FOOL!
IT IS THE DAY SET ASIDE FOR LEGITIMATE PRANKING... making fool-hardy jokes set to knock down the unwary at any point of the day. Fun and games a fine thing in family or other social settings. Slight jokes played at work keep humility flowing among co-workers as long as the joke avoids a sour note. A joke gone wrong can end up in injury or death at the worst... emotional upset that develops into resentment or harassment on another turn. A gathering of relatives over a holiday setting... one home from his military stint, others gathering from parent's or their own household of wife and kids find a line to "spoof" the military guy. Get the party going... ribs sizzling in the back on the grill with brats, burgers and hot dogs. The cooler needs a refill of beer and ale... the Mountain Dew is getting low to. Food sides are set as brought to the table by attendees and family memories send laughter through the air until one harsh recall comes to mind. Games get rolling and outside of cards on the table and volleyball or croquette, "shoot the can off the stooge's head" becomes the joke. Who's the stooge? Pull the "odd man out." The one in town from his time off. The one always known to "love a good joke." The Marine is set aside by the other guys and spun around... a can set on his head and feet away is a bb gun pointed at him... at the can being steadied atop his unsteady gait. Caught by surprise he needs to "stand still and stay low... the shooter is good at this." The jostling behind him as he is figuring his way out of a foreseen tragedy at the hand of the teen holding the gun pointing at his face is ended... the trigger flicks and he's on the floor. The jostling behind the holder of the gun is more eager to get his turn at popping the can ... agitated at the man doing his time, perhaps a little better than the time he'd done in his own military enlistment call. His was a forced issue. A "draft call" back in the day when going out to other nations to keep the family in the household thousands of miles away from the front line. His was mandatory to do what he did not want to do, and this one show-boating was in... volunteering to be military when no one was out there to shoot at him. The draft was nothing but going to be shot at on somebody else's call, nudges his arm "Pull the trigger man!" The Emergency Vehicle makes it in time to haul the marine off on the holiday... extra payday for the men push-pulling the body cart and throwing on the siren to clear the road between this family home and the hospital. The pellet lodged in his neck when he turned to check the "who stuck me" behind him before the can fell off his head when the crowd budged and stopped bracing him up for the shoot down because he was "a marine;" something strong enough to withstand being shot and shot at. He was home on leave at his cousin's house visiting them and their kids... they were always doing something and had a larger crowd than his mama's own home. His siblings were scattered away at basic training, one off stationed in Germany... one on a battleship headed for Hawaii, and one stationed in Indianapolis... no time off for leave. He had to be back from this weekend leave on time to keep his good record and continue his privileged training for special forces... he was "the one least likely to."
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Families
Am I the asshole for insisting we put my 8-month-old baby in a French immersion daycare?
Am I the asshole for insisting we put my 8-month-old baby in a French immersion daycare? I, 30 years old female insisted to put my son, 8 months old in a French immersion daycare even though my husband, 38 old male thinks it is not important that we raise him bilingual. My husband is a skilled worker and a high school graduate while I am a teacher who studied the English language and who English is her second language. This baby, let’s call him Kai, is our first child and he is always fighting me about every little decision and seems to think he knows best about everything.
By Nneka Anieze4 years ago in Families
What is a Home without a House?
It may be true that home is where the heart is, but the heart has to have a body, a vessel, in order to live and love and feel. Now that my family home has been sold, the heart of our home is displaced, literally and figuratively, temporarily held in a box until it can be established in a new place. The walls that have been privy to so much, that have given the heart of our home a body for twenty years will now be the host of a new heart to a different family.
By Jessie McDonald4 years ago in Families
The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Right Person
Dating in the modern world can be a bit of an awkward mess. Technology has given us more ways to connect and interact with people than ever before, yet it's also made the dating process more difficult. It seems like everyone is out there looking for love, but are you doing all the right things?
By Sanjay Kumar Singh4 years ago in Families
Hometown Heroes
Who are you? Bekezela Maunze (my eldest sister); Nanziwe Khumalo (my sister-in law); Laetitia Sibanda-Malunga (my mother); Mandlenkosi Malunga (my middle sister); Tholakele Mahlangu-Khumalo; (my mother-in law) and Victor Maunze (my brother-in law).
By Mayideyi Khumalo4 years ago in Families
My Son, My Hero
February 15, 2022 Dear Baby Boy, Happy Belated Valentine’s Day! As you know, I enter a writing contest, to try and win money to fund my business. One, that is on our challenge board now is entitled “Hometown Hero.” I had so many people I wanted to acknowledge for this, that I almost allowed the time to expire. But, gratefully I didn’t. So, I wanted to take a minute and say, “Thank You and I love you”.
By Adrainne Thompson4 years ago in Families
