Happy Birthday Leah!!!!!

We at I’m just sayin… would like to wish my niece Leah a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! My girls love playing with their cousin Leah. I am glad that she lets them play with her. I hope she has a great day!

I still remember the say she was born. I was living on the 4th floor of Richardson (at Winthrop) and when I got back to my room after taking a shower my roommate (Chris) told me my parents had called. I called back and they told me that No Name Teri had her baby! I, naturally, asked all the important questions (height, weight, name). They told me how big she was and that was it. Wait, you didn’t tell me her name, I said. Well… the thing is… No Name Teri hadn’t decided on a name yet. No… she didn’t just find out she was having a baby. Yes, she did have ample time to decide on a name. But I wouldn’t find out the name until a day or so later.

I was thinking about my grandfather (Da) the other day and thought about how one thing people said about him after he died was that “he never met a stranger” (because everyone he met instantly became his friend). I think there is a good chance people will say the same thing about me after I die... so I want to be clear that when they say that about me, it won’t mean the same as when they said it about Da. If someone is talking about me and they say “he never met a stranger” it will be because I don’t like meeting new people. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of “making friends”. That sounds too much like work. The amazing thing is that if I were the kind of guy who “ranked” my friends (haha), you’d most likely see that most (if not all) of my close friends are people I haven’t even known a decade yet. If not for Facebook, then the “oldest” friend of mine that I keep in touch with would be from my time at Winthrop. It would be easy for me to sit here and give you some excuse (like the internet was still just a fad when I graduated from high school) but Dad is still friends with people he knew back before electricity was invented… so that kind of hurts my excuse. So you would think that I don't have a problem meeting people... but I do. Part of my problem with meeting new people is that I have trouble remembering names. True story, I had at least one class with a particular girl at Winthrop every semester I was there (she was also a Business Major who took longer than 4 years to graduate) and I never knew her name. She knew mine. If we bumped into each other around campus she would say “Hey Greg” and sometimes we’d stop and chat… but I never knew her name. I have to admit I was somewhat embarrassed that I couldn’t call her by name. I would just have to say “Hi” or something like that. I hated it. It also happened a lot with my fraternity brothers (especially the younger ones). I wanted to learn all of their names and remember them… but I was only able to learn a few. I kid you not that now when I go back to Winthrop with Jeremy, I stick close to him so I can hear a persons name before I start talking to them. I’m lucky in that a) We, for the most part, had the same friends there; b) Jeremy is better with names than I am; 3) He knows how bad I am with names so he usually helps me out. All of this added to the fact that I am, as The Wife would say, anti-social leads me to hate meeting strangers.

The irony here is that as much as I hate meeting strangers, they always seem to talk to me in public. I don’t know if I have one of those faces that makes people think I want to talk to them or what… but I hate it. I made the mistake one time of wearing a blue polo shirt to Best Buy. THAT was a mistake. People kept coming up to me and asking questions. Ok, so that was my fault… poor planning on my part. That’s fine. The same thing happened when I wore a red polo to Target. Again, my fault. But there was also a day that I went to Best Buy in a t-shirt and shorts and still had people asking me for help. One guy even started to get an attitude because I was walking by without answering him. All I could do was stare at him in disbelief and make a motion with my hands that said (Look at what I’m wearing… I don’t work here, jackass). He then looked at me and laughed and said, “Oh, I guess you don’t work here huh… You just looked like you knew what you were doing”. Well of course I knew what I was doing… I knew when I walked into Best Buy that I was going to look for whatever it was I was looking for at the time. I wasn’t going in there to perform brain surgery. I’ve even had complete strangers talk to me in public bathrooms and I know damn well I don’t have a face that invites people to do that. And I don’t know how things work in the women’s bathroom, but the men’s bathroom is typically a “no talking” zone. Depending on where you are, there may be some talking among friends or something like that… but nothing between strangers. I also once had a guy use the urinal right next to the one I was using even though there were other urinals open and we were the only ones in there. That’s the closest I ever came to hitting a guy without that guy ever saying anything to me. My only thought is that this is what happens when boys are raised without a father.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

First Sergeant Sanford Bradbury (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 3, 1869 at Hell Canyon, Arizona. His citation reads:

Conspicuous gallantry in action.

Landsman Alexander Bradley (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on August 7, 1872 on board the USS Wachusett. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Wachusett off Cowes, 7 August 1872. Jumping overboard into a strong tideway, Bradley attempted to save Philip Cassidy, landsman, of the U.S.S. Wabash, from drowning.

Landsman Amos Bradley (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 24, 1862 on board the USS Varuna. His citation reads:

Served on board the U.S.S. Varuna in one of the most responsible positions, during the attacks on Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and while in action against the rebel ship Morgan, 24 April 1862. Although guns were raking the decks from behind him, Bradley remained steadfast at the wheel throughout the thickest of the fight, continuing at his station and rendering service with the greatest courage until his ship, repeatedly holed and twice rammed by the rebel ship Morgan, was beached and sunk.