The Christianville Spirit: Last Words Matter Rerun

The Christianville Spirit 

The Spirit that Creates New Beginnings 

May 30th, 2023 – TCS # 814 

 

Qué Paso, My Readers?! I realize that This is not My Usual Greeting. Actually, This was a Greeting I heard from My Grandparents on My Dad’s Side of The Family, The Centeno Side of The Family. I remember This Greeting well and I was greeted with It Every Time I would see Grandma and Grandpa. We had a Unique Name for Them, We referred to Them as “Bella” (Spanish for “Abuela”) and “Bello” (Spanish for “Abuelo”). 

If You can't believe it, It has been Three Years since “Bella” passed away. Honestly, It does not feel like it.  

Part of Me says that It feels like It has been much longer than Three Years, while The Other Part of Me also says that It feels like It has been Shorter.  

It is a Weird Feeling though. I remember that The Last Time I talked to Her Very Well. You See, My Mom and I were doing a Short Drive while Staying Close to Town, Going to Get Pie and Popeyes, When My Dad called, I could not answer at The Time but, When I heard His Message, It sounded Serious. I felt a Strange Feeling like Something wasn’t Right. It was on Our Way Home after Getting Popeyes (Fast Food) that I called Them. We Facetimed with My Dad and Bella for 30 Minutes. Again, The Way that Bella was Speaking, She did not sound Very Good. A Couple Days Later, I found out that Bella had Past Away from Diabetes and Kidney Problems. Somehow, I knew that, that would happen. My Intuition, I tell ya.  

So, In Honor of Bella’s Third Year Anniversary, I am going to Rerun The Newsletter I wrote when She passed way. 

Happy Bella Day! 

 

This Newsletter was Originally Written on May 27th of 2020 

(Refer to Newsletter 689) 

 

Cómo Estás and Qué Paso, My Readers?! This is a Very Different Greeting! It is what My Grandparents on My Dad’s Side, We called Grandma “Bella” (Abuela in Spanish) and Grandpa “Bello” (Abubelo in Spanish) every Time that They would greet me. Bella would say Como Estas?! and Bello would use both greetings. My Dad and Bella are both of Puerto Rican Decent. Anyway, as The Late Joan Rivers would say, “Let’s Talk” and This is a “Let’s Talk” Newsletter indeed. (Joan Rivers passed away in May of 2015 and I figured that I would honor her). I have used that when Talking about PTLS Questions (Refer to that Newsletter) But, In Times of Difficult Newsletters, that is My Go-to Phrase. So, This past Monday I found out that My Grandma on My Dad’s Side, Bella passed away due to a Large Amount of Health Issues like Diabetes and a Stroke. Now, This is Difficult for Me because Myself and The Centeno Family Country, Let’s just say have not always agreed with Each Other. The Centeno Family Country (or FC for Short) was more of a Let’s have a A lot of Fun without a whole lot of Responsibilities and Understanding of PTLS. Well, My Aunt Cindy actually came to a PTLS Conference One Time! That was Astounding! She is The Only One who I felt understood me in the Centeno FC but, I digress. This is Not about that. You See, My Mom and I were doing a Short Drive while Staying Close to Town when My Dad called, I did not answer at The Time but, When I heard His Message, It sounded Serious. So, As We got closer to Home, I decided to Call Him. Again Lack of Understanding. He had been in San Antonio, My Birth Home Town since Marzo (March) because Bella was not doing well. So, Between My Mom and I, and My Dad and Bella, We FaceTimed for like 30 Minutes. There was Something Off about The Way Bella was Talking. I thought to Myself, something that I usually tell Other People including My Friend “M.P Twinee” that Last Words Really Matter! They don’t have to be Serious or Meaningful, They can be Funny too. They can Range from I Love You to Some Random Word that You came up with that Sounds Funny. Anyway, I thought to Myself, that Yes Myself and My Dad, and Myself and Bella (More than My Dad) did not Agree. But, I do know that If This was The Last Time that I talked to Bella, which again My Intuition said Something was not Right, I owed her Some Good Last Memories/Last Words. We did have a Good Conversation in those 30 Minutes, If It was the Last Time, It seemed Peaceful mostly. When I found out about Her on Monday, I somehow knew that It would happen and Yes, that My Last Words meant something to Her. Now, had I really thought about it, I probably would have Re-told a Funny Story about One of The Many Things that She let My Brother and I get away with, like Going to see The Bevis and Butthead Movie when We were 13 Years Old because We insisted on Seeing It. So, I have been reflecting on The Funny Memories and Some of Not-So-Fun Ones that keep wanting to pop up. It gives me Comfort that I know that She is Out of Pain up in Heaven and She can watch me now to see who I really am and Have a Better Understanding of How My Mind works. I know that She must be Dancing the Salsa and Hanging Out with Her Favorite Singer, Selena. All in All, You may not Understand Someone, Even in Your Own Family but, Always Remember to End a Conversation with Good Last Words or I Love You or both.  

 
 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I Love You, My Readers! You Guys are Awesome! 

The Christianville Spirit: Grandma Honey's Golden (A Mother's Day Special)

The Christianville Spirit 

The Spirit that Creates New Beginnings 

May 17th, 2023 – TCS # 813 

 

I Love You Very Much, Honey! My Readers.  

This is a Strange Greeting, You might say! To Whom, You might think am I speaking to. To My Future Romantic Person, Bridgett? A Southern Way for Saying that You love Someone? Or Perhaps a Someone a little more Special. It can Your Guess if You want. Actually, Spoiler Alert! It is a Little Bit of All of Them! The “Honey” Bridgett mention is Something that I have always dreamt of Calling Her by as a Pet Name. The Southern “Honey”, has to do with The Subject Matter as well as It sounds Literally Sweet as Sugar to hear someone say in a Southern Accent. That is unless, You say “Bless Your Heart, Honey”, that You don’t want to hear! And, Someone Special “Honey”, This is where The Meaning is.  

So, Here is a Thought that I had before Mother’s Day. So, More often than Not, and Excuse Me if I sound morbid but, People often wait until Someone passes Away to Tell Someone that They Love them. Or More on The Lines of How Much They Love Them. Honoring Their Life after They pass away! Now, Yes, The Person will hear what is said from Heaven but, Wouldn’t it be Nice to Hear how People feel about You, BEFORE You pass away? Like, You are There to hear what They have to say. Some People, Depending on Who You ask, would say Yes, They would want to hear about People have to say and Others, more than Likely would answer Not. Only because They would probably be a Hysterical Blubbering Mess. Actually, For All Intends and Purposes, Both are True.  

Now, I realize that A Very Special Person in My Life is getting near That Point where if You are going to say How You feel about Her, It should be Soon. The Special Person I am referring to is The Above-Awesome Grandma Honey!  

So, I thought that I would do a Mother’s Day Special about Grandma Honey. Now, Before You freak out, Grandma Honey is Alive and Well; Healthy as She can be Her Age. The Thing, She is getting “Younger” by The Minute and It is something that I need to wrap My Head about, without Sounding too Morbid This Time.  

So, With that Said, This is My Version of Things to say to Her. I call it a “Living Obituary”. Because I want her to be Alive to hear this!  

So, Without Further A Due, This is “Grandma Honey’s Golden”! 

                            

++ Who was Grandma Honey? 

So, A Question that I am sure that You are asking, Who is Grandma Honey? Well, It depends on Who You ask! The Thing is that Grandma Honey was a lot of Things to A lot of People! She was My Grandmother; My Mom’s Mother; President of Our Family Country, Smith Family States; She was known for The “Grandma Honey Test” when Meeting a Romantic Person; The PTLS Community (Those that met her) would refer to Her to “The Official Grandma of PTLS”; 

She was The Original (OG) Peachy, where as My Mom is Peachy The II; An Amazing Sales Person when She worked for Black Diamond; A Fun Person to Hang Out with for The Kids in Her Complex; A Great Airplane Partner to Talk while Flying (She made MANY Friends that Way!); 

A Former-Wife to My Grandpa, Popi; and, More Importantly, a Hero to Unwed Teenage Mothers in Her Corner of Maine (aka Auburn-Lewiston). Personally, I think that Out of All those things, I would believe that Her Mark on The World will be Seen most on Her Grandchildren and The Unwed Teenage Mothers that She helped, including One that I met once. We should always have a Strong Mark on The World. I, as a Grandchild of Hers, is Very Proud of Her. 

 

            ++ Funniest Memory of Her (or Us) 

Now, Things like These, I feel are Always Sad and That is Okay. But, I feel that They lack a Little Bit of Laugher. 

 So, This is My Story of Humor!  

So, The First Story is called “Meeting of M.P Twinee”, so in Thanksgiving of 2019, when I was deep in love with My Best Friend, “M.P Twinee”, I wanted to Introduce her to Grandma Honey but, I did not tell her when. Well, Needless to say, Grandma Honey had a Little Fun with My Mom and I at Dinner like an Hour before. Spoiler: She was a Little Tipsy! So, She met “M.P Twinee” is a Goofy Way as well, as The Fact of My Camera Angles and I forgot that (Clearing Throat) Grandma Honey is fan of Nude Art and There was One of The Art Pictures in The Camera Shot! Needless to Say, It was quite an Interesting Meeting! My Favorite Part was when Grandma Honey asked “M.P Twinee” felt about Me and She lit up like a Christmas Tree. Grandma Honey saying “Oh”. 

The Second Story is even more Hilarious! This Story is called “Gram’s New York Accent”. So, on The Car ride up to Dahlonega in August of 2009 (I think), I was teaching My Cousin, Gram the New York Accent. Saying in Deep Voice (New York Accent) “Yo Yo, Hahw You doin’”. So, We were sitting a Small Hole-in-The-Wall Resturant in Downtown Dahlonega when Gram said in Literally, The Perfect New York Accent, (In Deep Voice) “Yo Yo, J-Net, Hahw You Doin’”. My Mom, Grandma Honey, and Myself All Laughed Hard! The Most Hilarious Moment that I have seen! 

 

                  ++ What will I miss about Her 

So, Now, We have talk about The Most Important Thing that Everyone receiving a Speech like This, should hear. What is it that I will miss The Most about Grandma Honey. Many Things actually! The First being Her Laugh. It seems, just like Everyone has a Trademark Line (A Special Way that They say a Certain Word or Phrase), I feel like Everyone also has a Trademark Laugh. A Word to The Wise, Before The One You Love passes, Make Sure to Record their Laugh. And, Maybe a Special Message to You that You can listen to, after They are “No Longer on This Earth”, as My Mom says. Of Course, Second in Line, Besides Her Trademark Red Hair. Seriously, It is a Trademark and A Relic in Our Family Country! Is Her Advice about Things. About Life, About Issues, or Just a Pick-Me-Up, She did those Well. And, Finally, One cannot Forget Her Legendary Stories, from Her Past Life with Popi; Her “Mark on The World” helping Teenage Mothers; Stories from Her Time at Black Diamond (My Mom joined her Many Times) and Yes, Even I joined her for a Day, When She was in Town, and I have to say that was A lot of Fun! 

All in all, Grandma Honey, She has led Quite a Life full of Many Adventures, Twists and Turns, and Maybe a Few Plot Twists in There too. Oh Yeah! If You consider the “Unwed Teenage Mothers” a Storyline, that Definitely had Lots of Plot Twists! And, Here’s a Plot Twist, You may or may not have seen Coming, She still keeps in Contact with The (Former) Teenage Mothers that She helped. And, That is Literally, The Best Thing to do when You make a Mark on The World, You keep contact with The Mark You did well after You finished doing it. So, Here’s To You, Grandma Honey! We (meaning The Smith Family Country) Love You and, So do The PTLS Community..And, Everyone!  

 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Treasure The Grandma Honeys in Your Life!