Stinky Feet

Times are hard. We all have our stresses; domestic issues, job loss, slack business for self-employed folks, raising kids (can I get an amen?). We need a laugh wherever we can find one. Sometimes a good laugh can be pretty close, maybe a couple of feet away or in the Brady household a couple of stinky feet away. The other night the Brady family was in the living room reading aloud the Scarlet Pimpernel when we noticed a pungent odor. Sandra mentioned it first, but I noticed it earlier and didn’t say anything because I thought it was me. Will was minding his own business eating a Nutty Bar when Sandra yanked his bare feet up to her nose and then passed out. No, she didn’t really but she did yell loud enough to let us all know that she found the culprit. Will had stinky feet! It’s no wonder because he goes everywhere wearing his rubber galoshes without socks. Well, me and the girls got a great laugh out of the ordeal and Will, who will do anything for a laugh, finally caught wind of what the commotion was about and began putting his feet in Sandra’s face; much to her dismay but to our great pleasure. This went on for a few minutes and Will had to be mildly reprimanded to get him to stop. But we had our fun and it was totally out of left field. Something just occurred to me. Although we didn’t orchestrate the laughter, it did happen as we were all together as a family. This is an event that doesn’t happen often enough in our house. I might be in my office, Sandra on her PC, Will playing his DS and the girls in their room…all of us somewhat disconnected at times. Kidney beans, ground beef, tomatoes, chili powder and onions are all fine by themselves, but they can’t make great chili until you get them all together (and Keely makes the best!) That’s the point. This moment in time, two dots too close together on a time line, when the entire family is together day in and day out, needs to be valued, appreciated and taken advantage of, not taken for granted. Yes, we do drive each other crazy sometimes, well maybe more than sometimes, but we are family and that’s what families do. Hopefully the time spent together will create enough love, laughter and good memories to bind our hearts together as this moment in time passes and we all move to the next dot.

By the way, any guess at who got the pleasure of washing Will’s stinky feet?