He loves my mama, he must love me

Published 12:09 am Wednesday, January 22, 2014

For the 10th weekend, my folks have journeyed from Florala to Andalusia to work on the bathroom project.

During the holidays, I wrote about how there were 2x4s under the Christmas tree. I’m proud to report that those have been replaced by sheets of tile board.

Progress – it’s a beautiful thing.

Still, the weekend wasn’t complete without a last minute trip to Marvin’s to score the stuff that we need for the 11th weekend trip for the project.

Mr. Ken – Mom’s sweetie – is really a wonderful person. Not only does he love my mother, but he also treats my brother and me like we were his own. Not a lot of men would do that – especially considering that my brother and I are each in our 30s.

Mr. Ken has driven to pick up me and the oldest on the side of the road in Montgomery. He’s sawed limbs and pulled weeds in my yard. Heck, he even helped clean up the farm property after the girls and I moved to town. Again, I reiterate what a great guy he is.

So, it was with no questions asked that when he said it was time for a supply run on Sunday, we all piled into the big red truck and headed downtown.

Marvin’s wasn’t all that busy when we arrived. We took the list and headed to the wall covering section of the store. We found the board style we needed and looked around for a cart.

First off, whoever designed those giant red things was a building genius. The fact that you can pile eight sheets of sheetrock, 10 sticks of molding, two buckets of sheetrock mud and 12 tubes of caulking on that thing without it tipping over is an engineering marvel.

When Mom reached out to grab the edge of the cart to maneuver it our way, it struck – static electricity. One could literally see the electric current arc from the metal railing to her fingers. She yelped in surprise and backed into another cart. This time, her yelp came out more like a holler when the energy flowed from the cart to her backside.

I couldn’t help myself. I could hardly breathe for laughing so hard.

“Guess that’s what they mean when they say love is electric, right?” I said. “I mean, why else would you spend a perfectly good Sunday in the building supply store if you didn’t love me?”

Mom’s reply, “Well, I guess you’re right.”

Her sweetie’s reply, “I think your momma just too electric for us to handle.”

“Well, I think you better let me drive that that thing before you electrocute us all with your love,” I said back.

And as for the bathroom project, we’re on the homestretch, they promise. Either way, I’m grateful to have so many people who love me that much.