SATURDAY’S AT TESSIE’S

Or having dinner with some old friends!

This past Saturday night, TLW (The Little Woman) and I were invited to my older sister Tess’s house. Tess is a lot older than me, as you all know. (Even older than that!)

The dinner was great as usual: nothing fancy but the company was unusually good! Two people I always like to see, Tess’s neighbors, Donna and Tommy joined us. It was a fun evening, as we laughed at each other and spoke of habits I have tried to shed in the past and am now finally shedding, once and for all. That goes with idea that I pay for my habits with a few laughs on me.

My habit is I’m a saver. I save everything, and when TLW started on me, I have to admit, she is right! I reminded her that I now have to save our marriage since I’m taking a beating in the laugh department.

I saved a can of fixative from my college days! When I was cleaning, out the studio where I paint and do my woodcarving, I picked up the old can, and it disintegrated in my hand! This can was from the 1960’s! That is old, but I thought there was still some fixative left.

This habit of saving comes from my early childhood. I come from a poor family and everything was saved, nothing was ever wasted. We ate everything on our plates, and although we were poor, we never starved. I saved my pennies nickels and dimes, and once-in-a-while a quarter. Forget about dollars, I never owned one until I went to work as a youngster of 11 years old. But my clothes were always clean, repaired and shoes shined. Kids wore shoes in those days, and my pants were on my hips, not under them. I used to spend whole days hungry when I went away to live in college, because I only had so much money. Dad couldn’t afford to send me, so I worked at night, on weekends and during the summer to have money to pay for tuitions and books, not to mention carfare. Many a day I would hitchhike long, long miles to school and back!

A number of years ago I was in Virginia Beach, along with TLW and my kids. There was a fountain with coins in the bottom of the pool. TLW asked me for some change so the kids could toss the coins in the pool and make a wish. I just couldn’t do it! Cheap, yes, but instilled in me was the need to never waste. Of course, I got a ribbing from TLW, but then again, she comes from a wealthy family of land barons in Ireland, but still throws my money in fountains. This is done not to make a wish, but to keep me rooted in poverty and tradition.

Help me fight poverty-send me all your money.

Please.