Tattoo

When we moved to this church, I knew I would love the old lady that sat behind me in the sanctuary.

She sang really loud.

She talked even louder. Sometimes I could hear her over K.

When I reminded her of my name for the 5th time, she said, "I just can't remember that name. I'm going to have to get it tattooed on my left boob."

I introduced her to our kids. She repeated each of their names very slowly, laughed, and announced, "I'm really glad you didn't name me!"

Soon after we moved here, she found out she had cancer. She broke the news by saying, "I'm gonna die soon. We better get to know each other quick." A wink and a smile followed.

She went on bed rest, and I brought her some food. She rated her food gifts from 1 to 10, and she told me I got a zero.
When I told her I felt bad, she smiled, and said, "You need to be tough if you want to be on my team."

K had visited there one night, and didn't really mention it. The next day, she whispered, "I was dancing and partying with your husband last night! It was such a good time!" She deemed him a good dancer, and demanded I make it a goal to see just how good he really was.

She called my husband her boyfriend.

She died less than a month, I think, after they discovered her cancer.

I didn't get to know her very long, but I did learn this from her:

It is OK to let people know who you REALLY are right up front. If they don't like you, well...then you got that out of the way right away. No pretending necessary. If they do like you, well then....good....we'll have lots of fun being who we really are together.
I needed to be reminded of that when we moved to this church, because I didn't meet the expectations I think people have for a pastor's wife. I don't sing. I don't smile all the time. I don't wear dresses to church. And I don't have the youth group over every weekend.

I was starting to think maybe I needed to work on some of those things...

Then I met Pat.

Now, I'm working on not mentioning my boobs until at least the time AFTER I introduce myself.

Also? Don't ever try to search for an image of "B**b Tattoo" in Google. Sheesh!
I should've learned. Once, I was searching for an image of my favorite band, Bare N*ked L*dies. That was a shocker too.