big talker

there are a handful of stories from my childhood that are told over and over. some of them i would love to lay to rest and never hear again...others make me laugh and chime in with my own details.

is your family like this? retelling the same stories over and over? 

on occasion i have been told i am quite the talker. and all i can say is, true! true! true! and with that said and admitted, this story usually follows...

i'm four maybe five, and papa and i are headed north on 1-5. its raining hard (if you are a family member, you already know where this is goin'). we are probably 3 hours into a 9 hour drive, and i have been talking-without breathing papa would say- the whole time. finally, in exasperation, papa bribes me with a quarter to sit quietly and not talk. deal. determined to be the best non-talker he has ever seen, i busy myself with looking in the glove box. i notice a yellow button and push it. nothing happens, i push it again. nothing. i close the glove box and stare out the window happy with myself that i have yet to whisper a word. "PISTOL!" (which means S*** in papa language). i turn to look at what he was staring at in the rear-view mirror. the trunk is wide open and flapping in the wind.  we pull over on the shoulder of the highway as cars zoom by. papa turns and gives me the eye. i smile at him, proud that i have yet to say a word...that quarter is so mine! he slams the door and walks in the pouring rain around back to shut the trunk, getting sprayed by the semis flying by. i would love to say the rest of the journey was quiet, but in truth i probably begged my quarter from him, and then kept right on blabbin'....

i cant remember now if he gave me that quarter. i don't remember the rest of the drive. but at least once a year this story is brought out and dusted off and retold with added flair. and we laugh. 

the other night addison was talking my ear off...it reminded me of her mom...but you couldnt pay me a million dollars to shush this child. she has got a lot to say....

listen here to what's on her mind.