Carl Lemon

Yesterday was the funeral of my husband's great uncle. Tim was unable to make it to the funeral but I was. I didn't know him very well at all, but what experience I did have with him was one I won't easily forget.

You see, there was a certain type of greeting he had for those of us in the younger generation. He called us "dumb kid". This, of course, sounds like he is a horrible and nasty person. I have never personally found this to be true. When he called me a dumb kid, I noticed something right away. By calling me this, he was including me in the family. I was not some outsider who dared to date and even marry his great nephew. I was someone special who deserved the same title as all the rest of the kids in his family. You are reading the blog of someone who is mighty proud to go by the title of "dumb kid"!

I never realized how much this man meant to me until I went to his funeral and heard the words the preacher used to describe him. By the time the funeral was over, I felt genuinely sad that I had never gotten to know Carl better. What I learned about him in 1 hour's time of listening to a good friend talk about him, inspired me to write about it.

Something that is very hard for me to deal with, is the fact that all these years that I have been with this family, I never realized how great a man there was just a couple of hours distance from my home. What I have learned is to never assume you know someone just because they're in your family. Take time to sit down and talk to them. Ask them what they think and listen to the answer. Truly listen to them.....with both eyes looking straight into theirs.

I learned alot about myself as I listened to the words describing Carl. I found out just how much we were alike and yet how much we were different. The words describing Carl's life inspired me to be better, live better, work better, love better and give better. I learned how to be better and I learned that being better was attainable because it was lived out right in front of the whole world to see and hear.

So, today's advice is:

BE BETTER