This will probably have to be my last public post before I entertain the idea of going private again. A good friend alerted me that I have a potential stalker who takes pot shots and jabs at me and my family on other social media outlets. I do not understand this individual's obsession with my family. Please leave us alone. I'll handle this household, you handle your own.
I really love blogging; it clears my mind at night before I go to bed. Some people write in a diary, I blog. This post is actually quite timely given all that is allegedly happening in my neck of the woods right now --
This family is rapidly approaching the 12 year mark. Twelve years ago this spring we moved to B'ham. We were supposed to be here a year, two years tops. Whodda thunk we'd every be here this long?
There are some things I enjoy about living in the South, some things I do not (i.e., being SO far away from our families). One thing, however, has always been a major sticking point for me. I absolutely can not understand why, for the life of me, people INSIST on saying things like "We'll make a Southerner out of you yet." Seriously? Why? Why on God's green earth do I have to be labeled a Southerner? Why label me as anything? Why can't I be me and you be you? Why do I have to be a Southerner for you to like me or want to get to know me better? Why can't you appreciate me for who I am?
Just as you are proud of being from the South, I am proud of being from the North. I like the snow. So sue me. I don't like sweet tea nor do I care for the taste/texture of grits (nothing personal, I don't like oatmeal or bananas either; it's definitely a mushy texture-thing for me). I like fresh bagels, big-ass pretzels from a street vendor and pizza so freakin large I have to fold it in half to eat it (oh and I must really be the devil incarnate! I'm Catholic to boot! Yup, better hides yo' wives, hid yo' kids). I would never, in a million years, expect someone to completely forget their past just because they've moved into a new geographical area. And yet, that's what a lot of people in the South expect you to do. It's the weirdest thing. Please don't send me those cute little e-mails about "what every Southern girl should know." FYI, Northerners write thank you cards, we love football just as much as the next person and we have manners, too! Because you had a bad experience with a foreign taxi driver the one and only time you ever stepped foot in one of the five boroughs does not mean that all New Yorkers are rude (just as the media would have you believe all Southerners are toothless rednecks who don't wear shirts when the tornado hits the trailer park).
My girls and I are probably more "Southern" that most of the people we know down here. Both sides of my family have Southern roots -- my grandmother's family hails from Boone, NC (pre-Civil War) and my dad and his entire family is from Beckley, WV. Cosmo's grandparents were from New Orleans (although I have had several friends actually tell me that New Orleans isn't really "Southern").
We luv, luv, luv Alabama football in this house and attended many, many Alabama games for years and years before we ever moved here. Cosmo and I were still DATING when I attended my first Alabama game (this was before electricity was invented). We also like hockey and lacrosse. Soccer? Eh. Not so much. I'm sorry if it bothers you that my daughter has zero interest in going to Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennesse or any another SEC school (with the exception of Vandy, LSU and the U of KY). It's not that they aren't great schools, it's just that she's ready to move on. There's just too much of the world to see and do to stay in one place too long. I think we have gypsy in our blood somewhere along the line. We are SO ready for the next adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment