Home plate.

home plate

Yesterday on rounds at Grady:

Grady elder:  "I need you to herry up and discharge me."

Me:  "Well, I just need to make sure you won't need oxygen first. I hope that's okay."

Grady elder:  "How long tha's gon' take?"

Me:  "Not too long. Why the big hurry, sir?"

Grady elder:  "Cawse my wife made some ribs and I don't want 'em to be all gone by the time I get home, tha's why.

Me:  "Must be some good ribs."

Grady elder:  "Sho' is."

Me:  "I bet your wife saved you a plate.  I bet."

Grady elder:  "Yeah, she probably did."

Smile

Me:  "How long have you been married, sir?"

Grady elder:  "Whooooo. . . shoooooot. . . .well my son is fifty-nine. . . so. . .at least that long."

Me:  "Wow."

Grady elder: "Yep. We been together a long time!"

Me:  "What's the key to being married for that long?"

Grady elder:  (laughs) "Jest get out each other face when you get mad and put up with each other's junk."

Me:  (chuckling) "That's it?"

Grady elder:  "Well, 'course you gots to love each other. 'Cawse ain't no way you could do it if'n it ain't no love. But me--when I gets mad, I jest go fishing."

Me:  "Fishing?"

Grady elder: "Yes ma'am! All day long. Then I comes back with some fish for my wife and she gut 'em and clean 'em and cook 'em."

Me:  "And that makes her happy?"  (Because I'm pretty sure it wouldn't make me happy.)

Grady elder:  "Shooot, yeah. By the time we eatin' that fried fish we done forgot what we was mad about." Threw his head back and laughed.

Me:  (chuckling) "I love it!"

Grady elder:  "You married?"

Me:  "Yes, sir."

Grady elder:  "How long you been married?"

Me:  "Almost seven years, sir."

Grady elder:  "Seven years? Awwww, shoot! You jest gettin' started. You ain't even made it to first base yet!"

Me:  "No?"

Grady elder:  "Naaawww."

Me:  "Not even first base?  Where am I then?"

Grady elder:  "You jest steppin' off the home plate."

Me:  "Dang!  When do you get to first base?"

Grady elder:  "Not 'til ten . . twelve years."

Me:  "And where are you?"

Grady elder: "Shooot, I done made it round three, four times.  And now we gettin' ready to slide into home plate."


***

home plate

Getting home to get his home plate while sliding into home plate.  Does it get any better than that?

::sigh::

I. Love. This. Place.