Hate to brag, but had lunch with greatness today.
Mary Kirk is flat-out, no-other-word-for-it great. The you-never-know-what-she-will-say-next great. The do-anything-for-you great. And especially, the laugh-out-loud kind of great. We were UIL coordinators who met as competitors and retired as friends. Mary made a career out of taking kids from a low socioeconomic school and turning them into orators and debaters who could (and did) compete with anyone. They usually won, too, because Mary is that kind of great.
Now that we no longer "work," we have more time to devote to friendship because retirement is synonymous with relationships. Since we quit our day jobs, I've taught Mary how to use a digital camera (sort of) and that the best place to spend Wednesday mornings in Waco, TX is at Bible Study Fellowship. She has given me an example of strength and a new appreciation for laughing loud and often.
Mary and her husband have an adult son with autism. He's on the communicative, fun part of the spectrum, of course. After all, Mary is his mother. (Have to be fair; they are both incredible parents.) Since I could never begin to imitate Mary's stand-up comic humor, here's where I plagiarize a couple of recent posts from her Facebook page.
I am wearing a T-shirt embellished with a big bright toucan.
Sean - "What is that on you shirt called?"
Me - "A toucan."
Sean -"Yeah? I have a song about it on one of my CD's"
Me - "Really?"
Sean - "You know the one. "Precious and Few" that says precious and few are the moments we two can share. Never knew that was about a bird."
Me - "Yeah, me neither, Sean."
So now we all know!
And another classic:
I was invited ("forced") to attend one of Sean's "sessions," which involves my listening to and watching his picks from his massive CD and DVD collection. Watched too many Three Stooges and Mr. Ed (help me) episodes, and to round it out was the absolute worst 40's and 50's country music ever to be recorded. Worst song was by Jimmy Dean - "I won't go huntin' with you, Jake, but I will go chasin' wimmin."
Am I a great mother or what?
I can answer that question!
So there we have it! Greatness.
