Over the weekend Charlie and I were talking and he asked me where I come up with the stories I share on my site. I let Charlie know most of them come from our lives or products I need to review. But sometimes there events I’ve seen I think you might enjoy or they might be #Holidays I’ve saw posted.
That is what happened this weekend when I looked at the calendar and find several things my family would be interested in all being celebrated on the same day.. That is what happened on October 4th when everything just seemed to fit together like a T and allowed our family to celebrate National Taco Day, because there is no, need to wait until Tuesday to celebrate #Tacos. It was also National Vodka Day and after day David had yesterday at work I know David is going to need a drink or two. There was also National Kiss a Wrestler Day and Ten-Four Day—and somehow, every single one of them fits our family today.
As I said earlier National Taco Day should officially happen on Tuesday if you ask most people, because that’s Taco Tuesday. But we’re having tacos today. David worked an incredibly long weekend. He went in at 3:00 yesterday morning and didn’t get home until almost 9:00 last night. So today is going to be a rest-and-relaxation day for David. And tacos are the perfect dinner for a day like that.
All I have to do is brown some ground beef, put out the taco shells and toppings, and everybody can make their tacos exactly the way they want them. Nobody has to do all the cooking. Nobody has to make everybody else’s plate. We can all just sit down together and eat. And since I have Fritos, I can make a Frito salad to go along with our tacos. That’s my kind of family dinner. Sometimes you don’t need an elaborate meal. You just need something everybody likes and a table where everybody can gather.
It’s also National Vodka Day. Now, we don’t have any money until we get paid on Tuesday, so we’re not going shopping for anything special. But I do have some liquor hidden around the house. And I thought, why not pull out the vodka and let David make himself a drink this evening?
After working the hours he did, I think he deserves to sit down, relax and enjoy it. I’ll probably let him have his drink while we enjoy our tacos and spend some time together. You don’t always have to spend money to celebrate. Sometimes you just have to look around your own house and see what you already have.
Then we have National Kiss a Wrestler Day. Now, if I were going to kiss a wrestler, that would have been back in the day. Michael Hayes from the Freebirds was pretty fine, and my sister would have gone after Kerry Von Erich. Unfortunately, neither one of us ever got that opportunity! But today, I want to look at this holiday a little differently.
Charlie has been wanting to watch wrestling with David because two wrestlers he cared about recently passed away. One of them was Pawk, and Charlie hasn’t gotten to show David the memorials and some of the things he’s been watching but I’ve watched some of it with Charlie.
So today, I think it would be nice for David and Charlie to sit down together and watch some wrestling. They can remember the wrestlers they loved, watch some of those old memories and talk about the people who made an impact on them. And instead of blowing a kiss to a wrestler today, I’d like to send hugs, love and prayers to the families who are mourning their loved ones.
Please keep those families in your thoughts and prayers as they move through this week. Grief doesn’t disappear just because the funeral is over or the memorial has ended. Sometimes the memories come rushing back when you least expect them. You can trust me on that.
And then there’s Ten-Four Day. That one really hits home for me. When I was a child, I remember my mom and dad driving down the street talking on their CB radio. Back then, CB radios were a part of everyday life for a lot of families. You could hear people talking to one another, checking in and saying things like, “Ten-four, good buddy.”
And the other day, while we were cleaning out the garage, David’s mom actually found her old CB player from back in the day. Of course, goofy David thinks he wants it. I’m not really sure who he’s planning on talking to! I don’t even know how many people use CB radios today.
And I wonder how many kids today even know what a CB radio is. But you know what? If Charlie were still being #homeschooled, I think that old CB could make a pretty fun homeschool lesson. We could start with something simple: What is a CB radio?
Why did people use them? What does “Ten-four” mean? What other expressions did people use? Why were CB radios important to truckers and families? How did people communicate before cell phones? And how has communication technology changed over the years? We could even see if we could get that old CB working again. Because some of the best homeschool lessons aren’t necessarily found in a textbook. Sometimes they’re sitting in an old box in the garage.
Ten-Four Day makes me think about something much more personal. I wonder if my mom and dad have their CB radio in heaven. If they did, I wonder if I could get on there today and call them. Maybe I’d say: “Mom? Dad? Ten-four?” And then I’d ask them to do something for me.
I’d ask them to reach out and make those two wrestlers who recently passed away feel welcome as they walk through the pearly gates. Maybe Mom and Dad could show them around. Maybe they could introduce them to some of the people who got there before them.
And while they’re at it, I’d ask them to find Suzanne. I’d ask them to remind her how much I love her. Because there are some things you never stop wanting to say to the people you’ve lost. I still want to tell my mom and dad that I love them. I still want to tell Suzanne that I love her. And if heaven had a CB radio, I would hope they could hear me.
Ten-four, Mom and Dad. I love you. And Suzanne, I love you, too. So tonight, I can already picture our evening. David will have his vodka drink. Charlie will have his Dr Pepper. We’ll have tacos and Frito salad. And we’ll probably have wrestling playing somewhere in the background.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll take a moment to raise our tacos toward heaven. We’ll raise them for the wrestlers whose families are grieving. We’ll raise them for my mom and dad. We’ll raise them for Suzanne. We’ll raise them for all the people we’ve loved who aren’t sitting at our table anymore.
Because sometimes a holiday isn’t really about doing something big. Sometimes it’s about family, memories, food, laughter, a favorite television show and remembering the people who helped make us who we are. And sometimes four completely unrelated holidays can come together and remind you of exactly what matters.
So today, from our family to yours: Happy National Taco Day! Happy National Vodka Day! Happy National Kiss a Wrestler Day! And Happy Ten-Four Day! Ten-four, good buddy. We’ve got tacos on the table, family in our hearts, memories that will never leave us, and plenty of reasons to be grateful, thankful and blessed.
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Grateful. Thankful. Blessed.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
