Ah yes... the hillbilly heritage

I remembered one of them... I hope you enjoy this, because I can't believe I'm actually going to write it down.

My sister and I took my Mom and Kaia to my aunts house in Bixby. Mom will make the drive from there to home, so it saves us some time and it gave Mom's family (two sisters and a brother) a chance to see us and meet Kaia for the first time.

I know everyone says their family is dysfunctional, or they don't know how they made it out alive, but honestly, sometimes I think we have you all beat. On the one side, we have the recovered alcoholic who is also a manic-depressive paranoid schizophrenic who moved us from house to house, trying to find one with the "right number." His family is as embarrassed of him as we always were, so we were treated by them as though we were pariahs when we were all just little kids who wanted to fit in but didn't.

Mom's side was always my favorite. "Down to earth" and "fun" is how I always thought of them. They were always laughing and eating and fishing and working in the garden... I grew up playing in creeks and digging for worms and my brother and sister built forts in the hillside. We had outdoor dogs and inside cats and lived right next to the school where my mom taught third grade. Christmas Eve meant chili night and junk food and playing cards til the wee hours of the night.

All grown up, these people are very, very different than I remember them. Maybe this is why kids don't spend a lot of time with extended family when they grow up. It's much better to remember the happy times of our youth.

In reality, even though they are all college educated (three teachers and an engineer), they are bible-thumping Baptist hillbillies. Seriously. To say I wonder how I turned out this way is the understatement of the year. Or decade. If you don't believe me ask Cory. (though he probably doesn't remember because I usually say something like, "you don't have to come if you don't want to" so he doesn't). Better yet, witness this conversation heard Saturday today while having all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet:

Aunt 1: I lost my glasses, so I called my doctor and made an appointment to get new ones. Then one day I was cleaning and I found them under the bed.

Uncle: Did you find Joyce's teeth? Because she lost hers.

Aunt: Under my bed?? No, I didn't find her teeth.

Uncle: Do you have an extra set?

Aunt 2: I have extra teeth. They don't fit me anymore. Maybe they'll fit her.

I think they were kidding. My sister does not. We don't really want to know the truth.