Twice Told Tales

On the way back from Ladies Retreat, I realized something of a sudden in the middle of telling a funny tale. I was suddenly quite sure that I had told this story before to these sweet ladies who were riding with me (and had ridden with me in previous years).

In fact, as I thought about it, I realized that we had been friends long enough that they had probably heard most of the stories I told them already.

Do you know how to tell a really good friend from any other? They still laughed with me at the stories. They still found them funny even after hearing them before. They care for me that much.

My father-in-law loved to chat with people. I can remember Hubby remarking often that he never met a stranger. But he particularly loved to 'visit' (as we Southerners call it) with his family. He accepted me very quickly into that circle and I used to get a kick out of sitting and listening to them recall -- Hubby's growing up years especially.

I had been married to Hubby long enough at one point that I had heard several of my father-in-law's stories when Hubby asked me on the way home how I could sit and listen to the same old stories for so long. I laughed and told him that if you listen long enough, you get a new one. I guess I still hadn't heard them as much as he had. :)

I remember one time when it hit me that he and his wife (my mother-in-law) had it down. Hubby's mom told a story from her childhood. His stepdad made the same remark with a grin that I had heard him make before. And she laughed and replied with the same reply she had replied before. It didn't matter that they had both heard it before and it didn't matter that it was almost like a script at that point in their marriage. That's how much they cared.

I'm sure I've seen it in my own family as well but I remember being struck by that instance because I was observing it in that way. That's what the people who love you do.

They listen to the same old stories and they laugh with you. Or cry with you. Because that story was part of who you are now -- whoever that might be; friend, lover, child, or parent. That's the person they care about, the person you became.

And, sometimes, if they listen long enough, they'll get a new story too.