Mondays with Nana

I've heard there are only two constants in life--death and taxes. Although pessimistic, that statement is fairly accurate. I think for a believer, there are a few more constants (i.e. God, scripture, etc.), but I have one in my life that is shared by a very privileged few--Monday lunch with Nana.

Let me tell you a little about my Nana. She's my dad's mom, and she's flat out wonderful. She was married to my Papa (pronounced Paw-Paw) for 49 years before he passed away. I always looked to them, and my other grandparents for that matter, as a model of consistency and integrity in marriage. Even after decades of marriage, it was painfully obvious how in love they were. Nana has always been an integral part of our family, and she does well now to balance the time she spends with myself and my sisters, and her other granddaughter who lives in Las Vegas with my aunt and uncle.

For almost seven years, Nana has been cooking lunch every Monday for me, my dad, and my step-mom, Julie. There have been other guests as well. My sisters, step-brother and step-sister, and my wife have all dined on Monday. My sister and I both have brought friends to the exclusive club. For two and a half years, while I worked at Boys Ranch, it was just for my dad and step-mom, but Nana has remained constant. Always unflappable, but always self-criticizing, Nana has continued to put delicious food in our stomachs every Monday for the better part of a decade. Her apologies are constant as well as she always finds something slightly imperfect in her cooking. As consistent as her apologies, though, are our lack of complaints.

It has been a blessing for me to grow up in a town with both sets of my grandparents. As time passes, I strive to remain daily grateful to all of them. When Papa passed away, I realized that I'm not going to have them forever, but I rest easy in the thought that I will have them forever eventually.

Guilty Pleasures

Recently I've begun thinking that I have much to share with the world. Often I feel the need to write, and I don't think I can pull off owning a journal. I thought I'd give this a try, but every time I started to do it, I would lose any semblance of an interesting topic to write about. I decided to default to what I do best--lists. For my first topic I will tackle 5 movies that would be considered my "guilty pleasures."

Number 5--Grease

I can't help it. Somehow me and Grease, well, we go together. I watched this movie countless times as a child, and now that I understand everything that they talk about, I can't believe my parents let me watch it.



Number 4--Three Ninjas

This movie made me crack up when I was younger, but if I found it on TV today, I'd watch the whole thing.



Number 3--Rocky IV

I realize the acting is terrible. I realize that Stallone should have stopped after Rocky II. I realize Dolph Lundgren really was on steroids. I realize that Brigitte Nielson is Flava Flav's true love. But if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.



Number 2--Sister Act 2

Only the greatest sequel of all time. I remember singing along to the CD in middle school with my sisters. I'm not an expert, but this movie is, without a doubt, Whoopi's crowning achievement.



Number 1--Bloodsport

Jean Claude Van Damme. The greatest actor of this generation.