Family Mottos
Going through old boxes of cards, clippings and journals here, getting ready to move. I refuse to drag too much of the past with me, especially when it’s bad journal entries circa 1992. Haven’t found jobs yet, but we’re readying the house for sale, just in case, and getting as much packed as we can.
Turns out you can accumulate quite a few Very Important Things if you live in the same place for seven years. You look at them again, these things, and you think, “I can live without this.” So you pack it and hide it in the attic, put it in the Goodwill box, or give it to a friend. It is amazing how much we’ve gathered. And a little crazy, when you start wondering how it’s all going to fit into a moving van???
Here’s something funny from one of my old journals — I started collecting family mottos from my friends. A few of the funnier ones:
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“If you leave it in a public place it becomes public property.” (from my friend KC, who came from a large family)
“Better late than dead.” (From my friend CB, who came from a family of too-fast drivers.)
“It looks just fine.” (A good all-purpose motto, no?)
“Take it as it comes.”
“I didn’t do it” and “You smell like a goddamn brewery.” (ha ha — same family for both of these mottos. Denial, anyone?)
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” (EQ, another member of a large family)
“Don’t grow up too fast.” (and from the same family…) “Date an educated man — they’re more civilized.” (and, for family members who refused to get out of bed…) “OK. Be a loser.”
My family’s: “Roll with the punches” and “Men are like streetcars — there’s another one along every fifteen minutes.”
What’s yours?
, 
.
We had many, but here are a couple of my mother’s favorites:
“Treat others the way you want to be treated”
“Never leave the house without wearing clean underwear”
February 26th, 2007 | #