I Used To Be a Truck Driver ... Stories From the Road

Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee ... from my truck driving days ... out west somewhere.

I used to drive a truck ... a big truck.  I was Skip's co-driver ... we drove team.  It was the most amazing, unusual experience of my life. I got to see the good side of truck driving as well as the very bad side.  I had worked in an office at the hospital dressing to the max every day ... makeup, being pretty.  I went to wearing slacks, nice blouses ... and didn't worry about the make-up so much.


We drove in every state ... we stayed out 11-14 days at a time.  We went to the wonderful places where the most beautiful vegetables, fruits were grown.  Lots of them loaded straight onto the truck once processed, washed, packed and put on pallets.  We would bring them to North Carolina to the many places that waited for them.


We were given all kinds of wonderful vegetables ... exotic fruits.  Sweetest of oranges that were imported ... I've never had oranges like them in my life.  The biggest of big of strawberries!  Giant onions, seedless watermelons, cantaloupes, bok choy, fruits I'd never seen ... tangerines, apples, more than I can name. We would get the load back in 3 days.  We would leave on Friday evening, be in Ontario, California on Sunday night to deliver tires the next morning.


It was fun when people would pass the big truck, look up to see me driving!  The expressions were wonderful.  Women loved it and would blow their horns, lean out to yell something to me.  Men ... well, men will be men ... they would play with me on their big trucks passing, slowing down, passing again. They would talk on their CB radios ... Skip and I would have fun talking back to them.


Truthfully, if I said driving a truck was wonderful all the time ... I would be lying to you.  That would be to make you think it all was perfect.  It wasn't.  We went into places in Los Angeles, California that you wouldn't believe until you actually saw with your own eyes.  Dangerous places, dangerous people ... trucks have to park overnight to wait for a company to open the next morning in these bad places.  You wouldn't believe what you saw as you drove slowly through ...


I had never seen as many homeless people as I did in Los Angeles pushing their meager belongings in a shopping cart.  We sometimes saw things we couldn't do a thing about ... people beating each other up, doing things we don't see in our 'perfect' life.  We usually go through life never realizing there are for-real homeless people.  Their world is a whole different world, way of living.  I was fascinated ... at the same time I cared so much.  They made an impression on me ... I would see them laying on benches, newspaper covering their thin bodies ... laying up against the side of buildings ... sleeping in what looked like big mounds of cloth ... I saw things I couldn't identify and can only describe it as 'what it looked like' to me.


Prostitutes were everywhere in all their sexy garb.  Some were doing the deed in an alley where one could see if they happened to look that way.  Others were strutting their goods along the sidewalks as cars slowed down, drivers propositioned them ... they would hop in the car and go do the deed.


I was amazed at the prostitutes who would proposition me, too.  They would come up anywhere in our travels ... proposition Skip and look at me ... saying 'I'll do her, too!' They jump on the sides of the trucks as they pass through areas having to drive slowly.  Sometimes, there would be groups of men who would try to get into the trailer ... break open the doors so they could steal the goods inside.


There all kinds of sob stories used on truck drivers to make them feel sorry for the people telling them ... all they wanted was money.  These people went from one driver to the other in the parking lots of truck stops, anywhere a truck would park.  They told the saddest stories ... they would have several little pitiful-looking children with them to make the drivers feel sorry for them.  We always gave a few dollars knowing a lot of the time it was a scam.  The way Skip and I felt was .... if it was a scam that person had to live with cheating for money ... we walked away with a good feeling in our Hearts knowing we were kind, gave for the right reasons.


Oh, the truck-driving stories I could tell.  I don't have the time to tell them all ... because living on a truck ... traveling to so many, many places day after day ... the memories go to a place in my mind that only are remembered if something triggers that memory.


The inside of our truck was absolutely beautiful ... I had a beautiful bedspread, pillows on the big bed that always looked inviting to lay one's tired head on.  We had colored tv, our cell phones, refrigerator ... everything we needed to make our trips comfortable.  We took our showers in the nice truck stops and even some not-so-nice truckstops all over the United States. There were some women truck drivers besides me ... a lot of them would play with the men truck drivers ... the things people do when they are away from home.


Traveling on the interstate ... truck drivers get all kind of entertaining shows.  You wouldn't believe what people do as they pass ... repass in their cars, vehicles.  I  would drop my mouth wide-open at the nerve of people ... then later on ... it became funny to me.  Women would pull their blouses off and shake their breasts at the drivers all the while laughing at them.  They would play with themselves as they drove by a big truck ... men did the same things while they trolled the roads to find another man to meet at rest areas. 


Don't get me started on the things that go in rest areas the average traveler isn't aware of.  A trucker's world is different from a vacationer's world ... though both are hand-in-hand ... walking in both worlds knowing how each was ... I saw, recognized things just the average person wouldn't ever notice.  Why would they? They knew nothing about a trucker's world.  How can you see things if you aren't aware of them?  I remember a particular rest area one had to be careful at when stopping at nights ... all kinds of unsavory characters hid in the bushes, shrubbery to slip out as they targeted their people for sex, money. At our company, one of our truck drivers was beaten almost to death, robbed there. 


You can see I've touched only a fraction describing to you the trucker's world I got to live in for several years until I became deathly ill ... later to find out 'now, I know why I kept getting sick, not feeling well'. I was diagnosed with cancer ... non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The next 3 years I was in another whole new world, experience ... I was battling for my life ... I became a warrior ... after knowing I was going to die ... until one day laying in bed waiting for death ... my fighting spirit kicked in.  The determination to live, get well became so strong until I could vision me living, doing things again I couldn't do anymore. Oh my ... the stories I could tell from this whole new world my illness threw me in.


I learned to accept people as they really are while living on the road, traveling ... being around every walk in life.  I began to understand prostitutes ... yes, I began to see past the 'bad' things they were doing and why ... they did them. I got to talk to lots of people ... I was curious about everything so, I learned as every mile went by. 


I learned to have compassion, empathy for the types of people I had grown up despising, thinking they were the scum of the earth.  I began to see people standing in front of me instead of ... trash.  This is not to say I agree with all they did but ... I got to understand the 'whys' of they chose to live like that. Some didn't choose to live that way ... life threw them into such situations while they survived instead of living like we do.  Do you know you can get so deep into life ... that it's hard to find your way back to 'normal' life? Did you know you would do things you'd never dream YOU would do?  That's right ... YOU would do them to survive ... or not do them and just ... die.


I have studied people since being little to gauge their moods to be ready to survive being beaten, treated badly.  I've done this all my life to make sure I wasn't anywhere I wasn't wanted or shouldn't be ... to feel for others ... sense danger ... and all the things we depend on our senses for.  I survived many physical things as well as ... mental things.  That's for other stories, not now. 


Driving a big truck took me into worlds I'd never gotten to visit otherwise ... took me to see, hear, smell, feel the things I only saw on tv ... wasn't sure such existed.  They exist alright ... Hell is everywhere if you look for it ... sometimes, people don't get the opportunity to visit all the different Hells on this earth.  I got to live, survive in a Hell as a child ... that doesn't even compare with what I saw on my travels on the big truck.


I can say 'back in those days' Skip and I cared about so many people.  We were always giving money, buying food, even putting some people up in a motel for a night ... we always cared. I remember once we were going through a bad section in a city ... it was dark excepting for the night lights. There was an old, broken-down man struggling to walk, push his shopping cart down the sidewalk. We had stopped for fast food and were enjoying our sandwiches, and big drinks.  I choked up when I saw the man, I noticed him before Skip did.


I pointed the man out to Skip ...and said let's turn around ... go back ... I wanted to give the man my food.  Skip and I always think so much alike ... so, it wasn't any problem to convince Skip to turn around ... even on a big truck.  You don't know the trouble a driver goes through to turn a big truck around ... I will tell you Skip Bates is the best driver I've ever known ... and if you had an emergency ... you'd want him on your side.  I've seen him talk young truck drivers down the biggest of mountains while scared to death driving their big trucks ... talk to drivers to help keep them awake when he saw them swerving all over the road.


Getting back to the homeless man ... Skip turned the truck around, came back and pulled to the side of the street.  I took the bag of food plus our sandwiches we'd just began to eat ... and our drinks ... carefully stepped down off the truck.  I went to the man after calling to him ... and told him I wanted to give him food, would he take it?  That man looked at me in my face ... his eyes lit up and he smiled, said thank you.  I told him I would see him later ...ran back to the big truck. 


My Heart felt so wonderful ... Skip and I smiled at each other ... we loved to do something kind, good for others.  We always did ... we do now ... even in our way while living on a limited income.  We aren't perfect people ... but, we are good people with good Hearts.  We like to give ... don't want to take from others because they might need it.


These are only a very few stories from ... my trucking days :)  I wish I could tell you all the happy feelings I had seeing the seeing a big, lighted truckstop knowing we'd soon get to sleep, rest ... such things one learns to appreciate out on the road. It was wonderful knowing we would get our showers, and get to relax, eat our meals in comfort.  It was wonderful to see unusual things to buy in the gift shops/stores of the truck stops.  Taste the foods that were common in that region.  Everything was ... exciting ... even when we encountered the bad things.


Finding this photo (above) triggered my writing today ... I have several more photos from those days.  They all, including this photo ... survived a house fire that claimed all our belongings. I'm lucky to have my photos ... sometimes, you'll see damaged photos from the firemen hoses, smoke.  I sneaked up a stairway left standing to part of the second floor to find the big suitcase of photos I'd put up there.  I was told not to go up those steps because they could come crashing down ... the photos stayed on my mind ... sometimes, I'm known for doing things ... I shouldn't.  Later ... I'm glad I did.


From this Author:  Photo/story is written by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee. Photo/story are owned by me.  I really wish I could tell all the stories from my trucking days ... it would be impossible to. No one would believe just as no one would believe all the stories inside me from my whole life.  I don't worry about telling them ... I'll just tell them as I feel them.

Gloria's Creations From Doodles on Coffee Filters to Making Jewelry

FACEBOOK MEMORIES ... ONE CAN GAUGE HOW FAR THEY'VE COME

FACEBOOK MEMORIES ... ONE CAN GAUGE HOW FAR THEY'VE COME
Written by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee





One of my copyrights ( I wrote 3 books ... I'm not the best writer, nor the worst ... I am a writer nevertheless)






This is me ... when I wore the new face of a grieving mother ... I let myself completely go ... because I couldn't see ME anymore ... I lived in another world ... I was walking on a new road in my life ... of a grieving mother.







Another Facebook Memory for 2013 ... one of my copyrights ... and this is the face of grief when a mother loses her child ... I looked like that for over 3-4 years until I could begin finding myself in the mirror ... when I did I would constantly ... look for ME. 





I began to take baby steps toward coping, finding a sort of peace inside.  It took years to do this ... today makes 8 years ... I have peace in my Heart.  Peace doesn't come easily to a mother who loses her only child, her child. I can only speak for myself ... if I think I grew up in Hell ... and have had 'bad' things happen in my life ... losing my son, Tommy ... in no way can be compared. 




This is a pain that lives inside ... no matter what I did ... I had to live with me ... I couldn't get away from myself ... the worst pain in my life.  No one could see the heavy burden of grief I carried on my shoulders ... invisible pain ... yet, I would smile at people whenever I saw them.  Most never knew my son had died ... I never talked about it ... I only wrote about it. That's how private I am.




Today ... well, today I am most grateful to be this far up a Grieving Mother's Road ... I've traveled over the worst of it.  This road had so many dark places in it ... more tears than one could count ... the worst pain one can imagine ... now, I'm on the road where the sun shines ... the colors are vivid, wonderful ... I can see ME in the mirror now.  I don't look like that now. <3 <3 <3




I can say one has to constantly battle to reach the peace I've finally found ... it's the hardest thing I've ever looked for in my life. Life feels good now ... I have Skip and our Pups3 who have constantly been by my side. 




I have all of you who have been there for me following my stories, giving me words of encouragement, making dragonflies appear in my Life ... Tommy loved dragonflies.  Many told me their stories of how dragonflies touched their life once they knew Tommy loved them ... I do too.




Sometimes ... I make dragonflies from gold wire and beads ... leave them in public for someone to find, help me to remember Tommy.  I don't make them for anyone ... only in this way.  If I could I would make everyone dragonflies ... I'm only one of me <3




I love Facebook Memories ... I don't know about you but I can gauge how far I've come by looking at the photos. 




I've survived Hell in my Life ...when Tommy died ... I never knew what Hell was until I lost my only child who meant the very world to me.




Who knows ... maybe when you read my words you might take a second look at the grieving mothers you encounter in life ... have compassion, empathy for them. 




They never chose to lose their child when their child is ripped from their lives ... what does happen is their whole world has been broken into pieces ... and no one knows what goes on in their minds as they try to accept their child won't come back, say I love you, Mama ... wave at you, smile at you, tease you ... be there when no one else is, love you like you are the most special person in their lives.


I hope you aren't like one person told me not even two weeks after Tommy died ... she said, "ah-hh, you'll be alright in 2 weeks". I'll never forget that woman ... I'll never respect her like I once did.  How cold, uncaring ... she'd never lost a member of her family much less her child. 




I had lost all my family members I loved ... mother, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, the list goes on. That woman never knew I had been living in 'forever grief' ... someone died before I could get better from the last one.  Shock after shock after shock ... plus the shocks that Life brings ... Skip in 2 bad wrecks (tractor-trailer, on his pickup ... both times women hit him) ... our home burned down, I won't keep naming all).




Do I feel sorry for ME ... no, I never have.  I've met it all head-on ... let it hurt me the worst it could.  I fell down a lot of times ... I kept getting back up ... some times taking longer than others.  It would have been easier to stay down ... but, impossible when one has a fighting spirit like I do. I mean to live now ...




I mean to hold on to my most treasured peace inside ... and I mean to use my one word I earned as a child when I get upset (the word is ... 'damn!' :) ... I mean to live Life as long as I possibly can.  I've come too far to stop now.  I mean to care for Skip Bates, our Pups3 to keep them in my life 'forever'.  I mean to write, draw, paint, create jewelry and whatever comes to mind for the rest of my life.




I almost didn't live after Tommy died ... I almost died. This is something I don't talk about often, something that makes people uncomfortable.  I promised on my blog when I began it ... I would write about those things just as they really are ... no sugar-coating. I will continue to do so.  As for talking about them to another person ... it'll be rare I do that.  I'll write it all ... I can let go of the words here ... it's the only way to lessen the burden of weight grief puts on me.




When you read this far and you've wondered why I write about grief ...or anything ... you will see this is what I do.  Maybe I made friends with you during the time I wasn't writing ... then out of the blue you all of a sudden see me write about death, loss of a child, loss of family.  You think 'what the hell, why is she writing like this?' Now ...you know what everyone who knows me knows... this is what I do, I promised to my readers I would do. 




I will always write about grief, life until my dying day.  I will always tell you honestly how it feels.  You can feel it ... understand it without going through it yourself. Maybe when 'it happens to you' and I promise it will ... some of my words could possibly help you at the worst time in your life. I truly hope so.




Written by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/ aka Granny Gee <3 Photos are owned by me.

My Gloria Opinion .... Words Are the Needles that Weave Our World ...........
Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

Good morning! I am going to give my Gloria Opinion on some things.

I feel every rescuer who participated in the rescue of the Thai soccer team (12 boys and their coach) ... should all be given something so special for risking their lives. This includes the wife of the diver who died while helping rescue them. Also, the woman who lost her rice paddy because of all the water ... she said the boys' lives were worth more than rice. She could always grow rice but, the boys couldn't be grown back.

I also feel every boy who has gotten a second chance at life because they were all surely doomed to die ... get an education and diving/swimming lessons so they can go on to do good things with their skills. They've had to go through such trauma for a young age ... and it will contribute to all they feel, do for the rest of their lives. This includes their coach who shared his rations with them, became very weak from not eating. He cared, loved those boys.

These are 13 people plus rescuers who will always share a forever bond ... it should always be recognized ... never forgotten. Just as the diver who lost his life after taking oxygen to them on his way out of the cave.

Why do I say this? Because they are special and for some reason, this has happened ... and each of them will realize this in their lives. They could go on to do wonderful things and people will know them from what they experienced. We pay attention to people who have almost died, lived to tell about it.

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we find out soon in life ... 'why?' Sometimes ... it takes years to learn ... 'why?'

I am amazed at just right after the coach was brought out ... the water quit pumping! Do you realize that they all were brought out just in time? How about the perfect timing getting all of them rescued? Just in the nick of time.

Another strange thing I learned ... the diver who died on his way out while taking oxygen to the boys ... no one knows 'why?' he died. He quit breathing.

If you get a chance to watch this on 20/20 ... please do. This has affected me from beginning to end. Why? I can't answer that ... it's one of those things that captures one's attention and it stays on their mind until all is resolved.

I even had a hard time breathing as I watched the divers inside that narrow cave passageway ... I felt deep inside for each person, rescuer and victim alike. For some reason, I cared with my very Heart for people I didn't know across the world from me. I cheered, cried when the last one was brought out of that cave in Thailand.

I'm sure each one of you reading this has experienced such in your life at one time or other. You get so involved mentally and sometimes, you are at the right place/time to even help ... when such tragedies happen. I don't have the skills to help in such a rescue ... I did say many prayers that were so Heartfelt they hurt me. I believe in prayer and the miracles prayers create.

You might believe in God, prayers ... you might not. You believe in something though. We all have something we believe in that drives us ... gives us comfort. As long as you believe and all is good even when it's bad ... it must be right.

That's another one of my Gloria Opinions. I respect your opinion as you respect mine and ... I will never waste time arguing something no one can prove is right, wrong. For these people who think they know for certain what's going to happen when we die ... I say ... you are entitled to your beliefs. Don't push them on anyone unless ... you have physical evidence to show them to change their minds.

The reality, truth is ... no one knows, not even you. We all form our own beliefs as to what will happen when we die. Personally ... and I won't argue it ... I believe we live Hell here on Earth ... as we learn our Life Lessons the hard way. I believe in God, Heaven but not the kind of Hell some people preach ... I believe Hell is like Karma ... you reap what you sow.

Anyway ... this is my belief and whether you think I'm doomed for your kind of Hell and groan ... it's okay. Why? Because I don't believe like you do and those kind of feelings have no power over me. You are the one who is groaning, suffering, feeling fear because you learned to believe your way. Am I going to tell you that what you believe is wrong? Oh no! Why?

Because how do I know? How can I tell you something I have no proof of? Think of that before preaching to someone ... have proof or something to show, tell to others so they have something to think about to help them determine what they decide ... to believe.

Above all ... if you want to force someone to go in the opposite way of God, church, shun you ... just shove your beliefs down their throats. You lose a friend ... someone you tried to bring to God ... all because you aren't going about it all in a good, kind way. Oh ... they might even know you better than you think they do ... they just might know ... you aren't so good in your private life ... they might just know ... your actions don't reflect your words ... they might just know you are trying to make people think you are so good ... and you are just an asshole in your personal life. Yes ... I said that ... you could be just an asshole ... thinking you are fooling someone. We all know people like that ... only the people who are real assholes will take offense that isn't meant at all ... it's what I believe. I won't argue with you ... period.

If you want others to believe in God ... let your words, actions reflect a light that will attract attention in a good, calm, quiet way. Nothing goes unnoticed even when you think it does.

The truth is ... actions do speak louder than words. Words are as valuable as gold ... in our world ... we have to have words to communicate whether we have gold or not.

Have you ever told someone you were going to do something? Then ... your actions reflected you spoke only words ... nothing happened ... you didn't do what you said.

Words are gold until you turn them into a worthless pile of broken bricks ... who wants your words if you can't back them up with action? Personally, I never trust you again and don't like liars. I'll be nice to you while the thought of your lie is in the air between us ... good things thoughts can't be seen in a physical form as we stand in front of the other!

We each have to live Life our own ways and try to do the best we can ... be as good as we can. Sadly ... there are always some that thrive on being completely the opposite ... they love pain, grief, suffering, inflicting it on others. Hopefully you ... me ... are the good ones who make small differences in this big, old world. Truthfully ... the most important things in Life are ... love, caring, kindness ... and only the 'bad things' that help good to happen.

Sometimes ... it takes growing older before one learns this ... because of being caught up in having the best car, clothes, home, money ... I've been there, done that. I learned the hard way ... now, since learning my lessons through the years ... I would love to have the finances to take my worries away to go along with knowing what I know now. I would definitely do good things to help others in a financial way. For now, that hasn't happened.

I do have my words, hands, feet, eyes, ears ... and my mind ... I'm so thankful for them. Pure grateful when I look around me ... I don't have a lot ... yet, I really do. I don't take anything for granted. If you do ... be careful. Life has a way of ... showing your ass. Yes, that's right whether you like it or not ... take something for granted and you will surely lose it ... to teach you a valuable Life's Lesson. How many times have I learned ... the hard way?

I always remember this being the quickest time for my words to come back to ... bite my ass. I had taken for granted I was living good and flying high as a young woman. I remember well the conversation on the phone with my mother. I told her that I was never coming back ( I lived in another state). Well ... guess what? Something happened so bad ... I was on the way to her home the very next day ... I had no choice. Life taught me that lesson the quickest of any lesson I ever learned in my life. She had always told me then ... "Faye, don't fly so high you can't fall". Oh my, I learned what those words meant as a young person. Now ... I only fly as high as to know if I fall ... I'm close to the ground :)

No matter how small a good thing you do is ... I promise you ... there's always someone who will think it is a big thing in their life, appreciate it so, so much. I know this personally. The tiniest things that happen in my Life mean the very world to me ... because like many people ... Life is harder when you are becoming older with a limited income, medical issues.

I don't mind someone writing what they think on this subject ... as long as it's in a polite, good way. Let me know what you think or want to share. I will talk to you.

I have only had a few people try to create chaos by being ugly ... I don't tolerate that in my world, I don't choose to. For you, for me ... I completely blocked, deleted them. They are the troublemakers in our world ... they are the ones who love to create pain, grief, inflict bad on good. Even if you don't agree with me in a good way ... I won't argue or try to change your mind. I will look at it in my mind, study it to see if what you believe will add to what I believe. If it does, I'll apply it ... if it doesn't ... at least I had a chance to think about it.

Most of all ... I will respect your beliefs. Everyone else will respect your beliefs. I can only say if they don't ... I'll block, delete them immediately.

How do I recognize those ugly, mean people who want to cause grief, pain? I grew up in it ... I learned all about being 'bad' ... the strange thing is I didn't want to be like that at all. I did get off on paths I shouldn't have gotten on as a young girl ... we all do because we are innocent, naive ... and what glitters, shines and beckons to us as young people we are lured to it ... to only learn Life Lessons the hard way.

I am so alert that I begin watching, reading and 'listening' ... to see if I'm sensing right ... when someone comments here. I have to ... you have to ... to keep ugliness out of your life here online.

Some people never have anything extra in their life to share to help others ... we do have a mind that can send good, positive thoughts ... a lot of us have hands, feet that can do only good toward others not ... hurt them. Our actions are as important as our words ... so actions, words are worth gold. Sometimes, words aren't needed ... actions do the talking. If you can't help someone ... don't hurt them. Just stay quiet, care ... they will sense that from you. Your eyes speak volumes ... I love those words. I forgot where I first read them many years ago.

It takes hands, feet ... to harm another. Example ... it takes a hand to shoot a gun ... it takes a hand to use a knife, feet to take one to do the bad things. You know ... the gun, knife, hammer ... can't get up to go hurt someone unless ... someone picks it up ... goes to inflict harm on another. A person has to ... put into action what the weapon ... does.

The list goes on and on. No ... you never thought of it quite like this? Think about it. :) I do ... I'm constantly mentally walking around something to see it in different ways. This is my way of seeing ... it's okay if you see it another way. That's your belief ... I respect it ... I definitely won't argue it. A weapon is harmless ... until a person physically picks it up to use it. I've never seen one of my knives, hammer get up by itself ... to go do harm. It would be a helluva world if that happened! :)

Oh, one more thing in my Another Gloria Opinion ... if you can't help someone in a financial way, a physical way ... did you know that you can say a few kind words that can put another person on Cloud 9 ... yes, your words can lift another up so high that they feel warmth in their hearts, have a soft smile on their face ... laugh at something funny. All because of ... your words.

You can stop someone's suicidal thoughts with calm, quiet, caring words. You can calm, comfort someone when they are afraid, upset with words. Words can cause a war ... we see how close we come to that every day on the news/tv. Words are most powerful. I pure love words ... they are the needles that weave our world.

Why? Because your words are like gold ... they mean everything when you express them ... there's always someone your words will ... mean the world to them. Someone is always listening ... how do I know? Because when I slip up to say an ugly word ... I look around ... there's always somebody standing there that heard! :) <3 :) Embarrassing!!!