When you need a laugh....

Today marked the one year anniversary of my Dad's death. As the tradition of my brother, we release a balloon at the grave-site and then have lunch at their favorite restaurant. I try to make a sad day, a somewhat happy day by rejoicing in their life and not spending the day in sorrow. Jesus gives us hope and I know we will be reunited again.

Well, brief history if you have not heard before. I shared with my nephew years ago that my Dad did not like catfish. He grew up near a pond of catfish . He thought they were ugly and nasty. The problem is my Mother and I love catfish. My Mom would cook it and my Dad would ask what kind of fish it was and she would always reply that it is just fish. He would eat it. When he passed last year, one of the first questions my nephew asked was whether or not his Be-Bob knew now that he had eaten catfish all these years. I told him probably so. He then inquired whether he would be mad. I replied that in Heaven no one is mad and that his Be-Bob probably laughed.

Fast forward to today. I asked him where he thought we should go for lunch today in memory of his Be-Bob. He thought and thought. I told him we were going to Olive Garden because Be-Bob always wanted Olive Garden. He  agreed. Then he looked at me just as serious as he could be and said we have to go to that new seafood restaurant you found. I asked him why. His reply was because they serve .......CATFISH!

I laughed and laughed. Oh did I need it on this day.

Well, we went to the grave-site and released some balloons. He chose a happy face balloon because he wants his Be-Bob to be happy. We did not end up at the fish place because my mom did not think catfish would be a good memoriam lunch. Although if you knew my Dad's jolly personality and jokes, he would have understood. We ended up at Subway because he requested Subway tuna or seafood all the time.

Overall it was a good day. Having my nephew around made it enjoyable. It is also enjoyable that he is getting some of his Be-Bob's jovial personality to make such suggestions and joke about eating catfish in memory of tricking him all those years.