tickled {a.k.a. you probably had to be there}

Every once in a while one of my {many} brothers or sisters will say something that I just love. Because it's funny. Because it's witty. Because it captures them in some way and then that little bit of their personality is encapsulated in my mind forever, like a little flag that I take out every once in a while so I can wave it around and smile about it. They are silly mementoes that I hold close to my heart to keep me happy.

Three come to mind readily at the moment:

The first is my sister Kimberly's comment{on this blog} about the basketball season being over. I love it because as soon as I read it I could hear her saying it. And I felt the exact same way.

"I already miss those days...I missed those days the moment the last game ended." Sometimes I pull up the blog to read that comment so that I can feel the camaraderie. {Is that pathetic commentary on me? Discuss amongst yourselves.}

The second is from my sister Natalie. We must have been talking about wardrobe or haircuts or being social {or not being social, as the case often is in my family} because the topic somehow came about that she would wear hoodies, with the hood up, constantly when she went back up to college so that she wouldn't have to encounter anybody. And in her voice full of her dry wit, Natalie said something like "Yeah, that's me. The Boo Radley of BYU-Idaho." You probably have to know Natalie to know why this tickles me so much. And maybe you had to be there. I was there and trust me, it was funny.

Lastly was a conversation between my brother, Nith, and many of my siblings. Nith was discussion his complicated social life and was telling a story of running into some girl, but having to, or possibly deliberately, cutting short their conversation by saying "Um, my party's over there." At which point my other brother, Lincoln, picked up that line and turned it into a dance/rap tune. "My party's over there. My party's over there. You're party's over here..." and he did a little dance around the small living room and everybody laughed.

These are small things. But I find that I take great comfort in small things. This post is to remind me. I have to smile.