JIM “PAPPY” MOORE: Let’s Eat Grandma

By Jim “Pappy” Moore

My mother had certain regular aspects of her sense of humor. She passed away ten years ago at the ripe old age of eighty-five. She kept her good humor to the very end.

Mama loved puns. Back in the day, we as a family had dinner together every evening. At the dinner table. We called it supper, and it usually ran from about 5:45 pm to 6:15 pm. We all sat down at the same time. No one got on the phone for any reason. Our dad said a prayer before each meal, without fail. We talked to each other, face to face. We shared tidbits of our day. We did not watch the TV. We did not talk on the phone. We ate and we talked.

Occasionally, the little girl from across the street – Glenda Selph – might join us for supper. She was right in between the ages of two of my sisters. She lived across the street. Good person to this very day.

Mama loved telling jokes, but she wasn’t especially good at it. Mama might say something like this: “Let’s see. There was a guy. He was in a boat. No, it was a canoe. Anyway, he turned around really fast in the canoe and his nose hit the guy and knocked the guy out of the canoe. Did I mention the first guy had a nose as long as Pinocchio?”

Mama did love a good joke that was a play on words, or some twist in busted language or lacking proper punctuation. She would say “good punctuation is the difference between ‘let’s eat grandma,’ and ‘let’s eat, grandma.’”

Mama would have loved all the “Dad” jokes which are popular now. One of my West Texas cousins has a grown daughter who regularly puts up Dad Jokes on social media, and I can’t help myself. I love that stuff! Some might say the jokes are “groaners,” and maybe they are. They sure elicit a laugh and a smile from me. I live to repeat such jokes at first opportunity.

There are two kinds of people in the world. The kind who enjoy a good joke and enjoy laughing about it. And the ones who don’t. To each his or her own, but allllllllll-righty then!

It’s a fact that staying in a good humor is good for you, good for your emotions, good for your happiness, good for what ails you. Getting in a foul mood and then staying there is the worst, most useless time-waster in life. So don’t do it.

Humor keeps us on an even keel. Most of what makes us angry won’t even matter by tomorrow. Obsessing about daily troubles makes them bigger than they are.

“When you’re crying, you bring on the rain. So, stop your sighing, be happy again! Keep on smiling ‘cause when you’re smiling. The whole world smiles with you!”

It’s a choice and you get to make it every day, often many times a day. Something someone said. Something someone didn’t say. Something that irritated and annoyed. Something that put you off your game. Something that could RUIN YOUR DAY!

You are really the only one who can ruin your day. YOU are the one overreacting. YOU are the one choosing to be angry because you feel like being angry. Let it go. Think about my Mama and her penchant for funny jokes.

Copyright 2024, Jim “Pappy” Moore. All rights reserved.