Love, Jimmie

Let me begin by saying that I am the lucky Mom…..Jimmie has been an absolute delight since the day she was born and she is also one of my very best friends.  As such, I have plenty of stories about her.

As friends will do, we love to go SHOPPING.  I call Jimmie my “personal shopper.”  When she is with me she will grab a shirt out of someone’s hands if she thinks it is just right for me.  I was witness to this in TJ Maxx one day; thankfully the shirt she grabbed was in the hands of a sales clerk and not another shopper that we had to bloody well beat unconscious to have it for our own.  We can spend hours in dressing rooms trying on things we will never buy, but have fun looking at ourselves in the mirrors and deciding how many pounds to lose before something would be totally flattering.  She has taught me to be a patient shopper and to ALWAYS take time to try something on before just thinking it will be a perfect fit and look like something out of a fashion magazine.

As Mother and Daughter we are very much alike, including height (almost) and size so we often end up with matching items because it looked soooo good on one of us.  I take full credit for Jimmie’s love of shopping.  It all started when she was five years old.  I had picked up Jimmie and her sister from daycare on my way home from work and we decided to have sandwiches for supper.  This required a stop at the local Thrifty Bread Store close to our apartment.  We had been there several times so I knew Jimmie knew her way around. I sent her in by her little, young, five year old self to get a loaf of bread.  I gave her a dollar and asked her to get a loaf like we always purchased and take it to the clerk and give her the dollar, but be sure to wait for the change.  Jimmie proudly came back to the car with bread and change and a confident sense of accomplishment.  I beamed with pride!!  The following day as we were on our way home Jimmie asked:  “Do we need to stop by the Used Bread Store again?”  She was ready for more independent shopping!!

The Used Bread Store brings me to “Jimmie-isms.”  As a child (and sometimes rolling into adulthood) Jimmie has tagged some unusual “isms” in which she makes up a new phrase or word to describe something: 

A Pair of Clothes – Why not?  It’s a top and a bottom like shorts and t-shirt, like a pair of socks or a pair of shoes…stuff that comes in twos.

A Tree of Grapes – Don’t pull the grapes off the stem for her. Break off a branch and let her do the work.

Makercial – The interruption of a television program that tries to sell you something.  But also, the perfect time to run to the fridge for ice cream before the program comes back on.

Navy Green – Best I can figure is this a dark green color, perhaps something like navy blue.

There are more, but I leave them to your imagination and continue with things I have learned from Jimmie.  I’ll tell you next about WALKING.  After Jimmie moved to Nashville, I joined her one weekend for a walk on The Greenway (the whole 6 miles).  I consider myself an active and reasonably athletic person.  I live on a farm, work daily with horses, put up hay, etc.  But…she walked my legs off.  I decided then and there to map out some mileage on our rural country roads and do some dedicated walking.  My goal is 15 miles a week and I usually meet that goal and sometimes go over. 

Next, Jimmie introduced me to organized 5Ks.  I’ve always been a competitive person (horse shows, racing SCCA, target shooting, hunting, both fox {Tally Ho} and big game), so 5Ks fit right in. I’m proud to say at the age of 69, I was the fastest in the 60+ age group in my second ever competition.  Recently this required another shopping trip with Jimmie for new shoes; I’d worn the tread off my first pair.

Along with exercise, Jimmie has encouraged DIET.  After years of feeding a family of six through childhood and teenage years (ever wonder how many times a teenager can open and close a refrigerator door in one day?), it was a challenge to prepare meals for just two.  It was also a challenge not to eat all the leftovers (oh, those extra pounds) as I was cleaning up after a meal.  Just a spoonful here and a little bit there, not enough to save and too good to throw away.  After all, I was raised by parents who grew up in Depression years….waste not, want not….clean your plate, etc.  Jimmie is very conscientious about diet and food preparation, and again I love to grocery shop with her.  She has not only given me great recipes, she somehow let me know that it was okay to throw away the “extras.”  I’m not really wasting anything if it can be fed to the dog, cat or chickens and we do have a rural garbage pick-up once a week.  Thanks to my wonderful daughter I’m 37 pounds lighter and can’t wait for the next 5K.

In closing this guest post I’ll add a few things that make me proud to say I am Jimmie’s Madre.  She has so much compassion, a tender heart and the desire to keep those around her happy.  Her intelligence and work ethics are amazing and she will face the most difficult tasks with a sense of humor.  (I’d love to know her “come-back” when Boss called her a Low Functioning Retard — I think they had a great time working together).  And lastly, have you ever met anyone else who really loved the research and creating of Term Papers while in college?

GOD bless you, Jimmie.

(Editor’s Note:  I did not pay Madre a dime to say those nice things about me.  Also, my only comeback for Boss was “I hate your guts” and “I know I’m your favorite”.  I could possibly use some suggestions.  Anyone got any?) 

(Another Editor’s Note:  I’ve written over 10,000 words so far.  Y’all, this is work.)