Hello, Katie’s readers. I am not Katie; I am her non-blogging husband, Joe. I’ve told Katie in the past that I would guest post, but was never really that interested. Many good ideas float around in my head, but then I move on to the next and lose interest in the previous one, thus never getting any of it in type. The only blogs I read are sports-related, and only if the headline piques my interest. To be perfectly honest, I am not even a regular reader of this blog, which my wife so elegantly narrates.
Katie and I are on a mini-vacation in Tennessee to visit with some of Katie’s family. She asked like 20 times during the eight-hour drive for me to guest post, and of course I shrugged it off 21 times (one for good measure).
First off, I love Tennessee. Not that I’ve seen much of it, but my experiences the three times I’ve been here have been great. Most of my interactions have been with Katie’s family and they are all awesome people. Life for me moves slower down here. Maybe it’s the fact that I am free from the hustle and bustle that is my life, or maybe it is true that the pace is more laid-back in the South. The cars on the highway seem to move just as fast if not faster, but our service picking up a bucket of chicken at KFC was extremely slow. Well, I guess we’ll solve that riddle on another post (or at least good idea in my head down the road).
We are staying in Oak Ridge with Grandma (Edna) and Grandpa (Lyle) Ballard. Katie’s grandparents are the sweetest people I have ever met. Being raised by my grandmother, I have a special place in my heart for the matriarch of a family. After almost 59 years of marriage it is so evident that they (Lyle and Edna) still love each other so much that they might put some newlyweds to shame. They laugh together, they joke together and they are still affectionate towards each other. They finish each other’s stories and they bring each other joy. They inspire me to love my wife better. Let me paint a picture of what I mean:
We were all in the kitchen while Edna was teaching us how to make her famous canned green beans. They have been doing this together for so long they have a set little routine of who does what and when without really telling each other. Lyle is sitting on a chair in front of the counter waiting for his next assignment to get here and makes a joke towards Edna. Edna, just getting the lids ready, has a long magnetic wand in her hand and points it at him while pushing it forward as if to playfully hit him with it. He looks at me and says, “One of these days she is going to get me.” She walks over and stands above his chair. She looks him in the eyes and leans over while resting her arms on his shoulders. She gives him a kiss on the lips and says, “Oh honey, I already got you a long time ago.” He accepts her embrace and responds in kind.
I am not a mushy man by any means. Whether snowboarding, cliff-jumping, playing backyard football, or partaking in my newest sport, MMA, I like to live a life on the side of what my wife would call dangerous. So what if I cry automatically during sad movies? I am still not a mushy man by any means, but when I witnessed this little scene in the Ballard kitchen my heart literally melted. I immediately thought to myself, “I will blog about this.”
I’d also love for them to foster more conversation on the blog, so feel free to answer the question on your own blog or in the comments.
