we are them

I used to always laugh at my older aunts and uncles

   They dressed funny.  They had weird habits, like saving everything.  They always complained about their aches and pains.  They didn't like driving at night. Loud noises and rude people bothered them.  They squeezed nickles so tight, the bison bled.
    And they always talked about olden times.
    I realized tonight, we is them.
    I have not gotten to the point where I hide money in clothes hanging in the closet, or having to go home before the sun sets because I don't like driving at night.  Well, actually, I don't like driving at night.  And I do have some jars of coins in the closet.....Holy Crap!!!!
     But at least I don't complain about the music of today, unless it is that rap crap or the high pitched whiny sounding singers and the bam bam bam bam that sounds like it is coming from a computer. Oh, wait.
     My parents used to complain about guys with long hair.  Well, I am much more tolerant.  I don't mind the long hair.  But those huge holes in the ear lobes cause me to freak out a little.  What the hell is that all about??  Doesn't the wind whistle when it passes through?
    And fashion?  Why do people pay huge dollars for jeans with rips in them when you can go to a second hand store or thrift shop and buy ripped pants for a fraction of the price.  Or come to my closet and take the ripped ones I use for working in the garden.
    I do dress funny.  I do save things.  I do talk about my aches and pains.
    Good grief, I am Uncle Jim!
    Come to think of it, that may not be a bad thing.  He was a pretty neat guy with great stories and two amazingly quaint cottages on a lake in Michigan, cottages my family spent many a summers at, just doing nothing.
    I do miss the old folks.
    And someday, somebody will call up a memory and tell a story about Uncle Terry.  People will laugh, and it will be good.
    Happy Earth Day.