Up In That There Holla...I Reckon'

First of all, Dave and I would like to thank everyone for their continued prayers for Dave's Dad. He is still hanging in there and we are just taking everything one day at a time.

We have had the immense pleasure of having Big Dave's 4 siblings here with us for the past couple of days. When they heard the news about their brother, they packed up from West Virginia and made their way to Indiana. They are about the sweetest 4 people I've met in a long time. We had a great time visiting and it was a lot of fun just sitting back and listening to their many stories of back home and Dave Jr. and Tonya growing up.

Besides sitting and listening to their stories (we had 9.5 quality hours together in the hospital waiting room together yesterday) I learned many things from these 4 fine people. Dave's family is directly from the hills of WV. The biggest lesson I've learned is that there are many ways to say one message...here are some things that I had to get familiar with...I'm including the WV way of saying it, and how we might translate it in IN...enjoy!

West Virgina Saying: Indiana Translation:
Up in that there holla... Down in the valley between the mountains
I know'd ya... I know who you are
Tweak ya in the south... Pinch your butt
I'm gonna kick em' where they live... Boys...take cover if you want kids
When you borned?... When is your birthday?
That gives me the trots... I can't eat that, I will have diharreah
He was the velvet headed man... He graduated as the valedictorian
My bloomers are crack creepin'... I have a wedgie

Just so you understand...I had to get translations on all of those sayings. I was laughing so hard for 2.5 days straight, and they laughed right back at me for asking what things meant. Dave's Uncle Daniel kept a pretty close eye on me and knew when I wasn't understanding, so he would fill me in about what the sisters were talking about.

Here is another favorite phrases that I heard while they were here: "That kid was dropped as a baby and hit his head on a rock and doggone if his brains all didn't fall out." (I never got who they were talking about!)

I also had the opportunity to learn that by marriage, I'm related (like 2 or 3 times removed) to a set of siblings that are named Fern, Wilbur and Charlotte (This should be ringing bells for your E.B. White fans!) The best part of that was that I don't think any of them had any idea why I was nearly wetting my pants laughing. I also am related to a man named Charlie Brown. Wow. That's all I can say, Wow!

I sure hope they come back again soon, I'm not nearly done learning from them. They are great people. I only hope they can come back another time, and spend longer with us, under not so stressful circumstances.

Have a safe trip home, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Doris, Aunt Faye and Aunt Joretta!