A reader and friend of mine (Mena) recently sent me some e-mails that were post-worthy. She gave me her permission to post it. Gosh, I need to stop thinking of life in “posts.” Positive thoughts are contagious! BTW(by the way) – It is Sept 30th, I am sitting in my backyard writing this, in my summer PJ’s, with my cup of coffee, listening to the birds, and as usual – watching Chulo the Stupor Dog protecting me from the evil hummingbirds and squirrels.
She is a Jersey Yankee, married a Southerner, her sister married his best friend, they both have kids the same age, they are buying houses next door to each other and moving their parents down here too. For those of you that are “from here, Louisiana natives,” time to stop and re-examine the most important things around you – the people!
People here also smile a lot…that’s a confidence thing. They are comfortable with themselves and aren’t just in their own little world rushing from here to there. They walk slower and calmer which is so pleasant. I just can’t say enough. Feel free to post my thoughts. They deserve to hear it because I don’t think enough people tell them and I don’t think they understand how much I appreciate their way of life!
As I told you, I’ll always miss my home because of family and certain things I got used to and loved, but there’s nothing like the south. The people are warm and not only that…they have this calm confidence in them and they don’t care to put up a facade. In the town I grew up in, people didn’t want to take about their weaknesses. Here, I find out about a person’s misfortunes in a matter of minutes and they tend to deal with it better. They talk to you like you’re family and don’t judge right away or think they’re better than you.
I was out to dinner this Friday and I could sense someone sitting near us smiling at us. I looked over and smiled as I tend to be the shy type and not yet really used to people being so friendly. A few minutes later, she got up and walked by us all- attention on my son. She smiled and with that calm confidence simply said, “Your son is cute.” Then the conversation started. 🙂 In 30 seconds and without prodding I found out how many children she has, where they go to school, how she feels about having all girls, that she had a hysterectomy a few years ago, and a few other interesting things. I get a little taken back, but I’m always polite and make conversation back. I love this! It’s so different from what I know. The total opposite of the cover up soooo many people put on where I’m from. I worked with ladies for years in the past and they would never open up to me. I think it’s sad. Thank God my husband is a southerner. He doesn’t care what people think of him. He stands up for what’s right, no matter the cost, and tells people exactly how he feels. CONFIDENCE!
FYI Mena and her husband buy houses and do real estate investments mena827yahoo.com
(c/p at NOLA.com)
For those of you who can’t see it over the computer, this story brought a confident smile to my Southern face. 🙂 Thanks and welcome, y’all.
So glad!
One of the hardest thing for me (being a northerner) when I moved down here is opening myself AND MY HOUSE up to strangers. I remember being so worried about how clean and orderly my house was the first few times we had friends over. Now, I could care less. I also used to get offended when people asked me what I thought were prying questions (like what church do you belong to?) and now i realize it is not prying it is just general curiousity and making conversation.