If You Know What I Know

God, I wish everyone in the world could meet my sister Corinne and my brother-in-law Chuck. As a writer often times I'm forced to comment on the negative side of the world.

Tonight, it's all about some real positive people.

As you will note in the photo attached, there were some awesome pepper creations shared by a group of phenomenal friends. Six or seven hours later and here I am.

Here I am thinking about family and friendship and love and life everlasting. Here I am thinking about my sister and my mother and my father and great friends. Here I am after laughing as my father told the same old jokes to my son that always made me laugh.

We held a stuffed pepper contest that was well-attended by a group of close friends. I won a prize, but it was my brother's recipe and he would have laughed at my lame attempt - he was the king of it all - and we knew that.

Yet there was my sister, at the forefront, making sure that we lived a little on a holiday weekend when life threatened our good mood. She was laughing hard, pouring out the Patron, and delivering dollar prizes to everyone who made an appearance.

And it occurred to me that if you know what I know, you'd be able to appreciate a little about life. If you felt what I felt, the love would shine through and the happiness would permeate the sadness. At least for a little while.

A couple of posts back I wrote about filling the empty spaces in our hearts - and filling them with love instead of pain - it was sort of a what-if type of post that I wished upon the world.

Yet there was Corinne and Chuck - making it real.

By the way, what do 12 stuffed peppers, a bowl of my wife's excellent chili, 4 shots of Patron Tequila, Pops Mexican dip, fourteen Swedish meatballs, and seven beers do for a golf game?

I'll tell you tomorrow.

In the meantime, do me a quick favor and dwell a little bit on what I know.

I know that life is filled by those around you. I know that love and happiness can be dealt without a cost. I know that there are certain moments when the world seems to be spinning at just the right speed, and I know that mixing Tequila and a shot called the Pucker is the worst thing ever.

Thanks to Corinne, Chuck and Pops for a great evening.