Bless Your . . .

I grew up in a small Texas town.  Everyone knew everyone else and most likely all their business.  My sister and I went to the same high school as our father, aunts, uncle and their uncle.  My great grandmother was one of the first residents of our small town and lived over by the rail road tracks.  By all accounts our small town was semi rural.

My sister, Julie, and I would ride our bikes, play game outside way after dark and never feared a stranger - after all we knew just about everyone.  Church was every Sunday morning and Wednesday night.  Sleep overs happened quickly and often. We would often come home and find friends playing on the trampoline or basketball in the back yard.  It was a close knit community.

We grew up in a time where you used yes mam's, and no sirs.  Where every adult was called by their last name and where children had chores and helped around the house.  I think fondly of those Sunday afternoons when we would race out of church to go have lunch at my grandparents.  The whole family together for probably one of three Sunday special meals - fried chicken, pot roast or spaghetti!

Back in those days it was common for people to use sayings like gully washer, over yonder, nu-hu, fess up, fixin, tumped, yall, wore out, coke, thats how the cow ate the cabbage and so on  The refrigerator was the ice-box, when something was turned over and dumped it was tumped, and when you were getting ready to do something you said fixin.

I still use many of these phrases today.  My sons will look at me like I am speaking Greek.  "Go get that out of the ice-box", they have no clue.  I told my mother in law to secure something in the floorboard so it won't tump over and she looked at me as if I had come right off the farm.  And fixing . . . well everyone knows fixin!  My hands down favorite saying though, is Bless Your Heart!

LOVE LOVE LOVE Bless Your Heart!  It is my "all encompassing" phrase!

Just today a friend posted a picture on facebook of her daughters tumped over dresser.  I responded with "Bless her heart and yours.  Thank heavens she was not hurt."  Bless her heart and yours says everything my friend needs to hear - she know I feel sorry for her - she knows I sympathize with her situation - she knows I know they were both scared and I am sending a blessing her way!

I was on the phone today with a girlfriend who grew up in a very similar setting just a few towns over.  She was talking about how she had to race to get her middle child to school so he could be tested for admission, then had to race to the airport for her husband to fly out of town, then back home with three children and on and on.  I simply said . . . "Bless your heart!"  She knew right away - I was feeling for her being so overwhelmed with all that she had gone through today.

I use Bless Your Heart or her heart or his heart or their heart . . . get it? all the time.  I use it when someone is going through a rough situation, when bad luck befalls one of my children, when I am trying to sugar coat a situation.  It is my all encompassing phrase!

I was recently watching The Actor's Studio with James Lipton.  Every single episode he asks a series of questions at the end.  One of the questions is "what is your favorite word", so I ask you today what is your favorite phrase?

Bless Your Heart & Happy Pinning!