I was raised by mother and her parents, and I was given the life values of an older generation. I have always gotten along very well with older people and appreciate them as friends. One older gentleman, who was a customer where I worked, became a very dear and close friend. He was a WWII Vet, a skilled carpenter, and a teller of corny jokes. Our friendship lasted twenty years, until his death. I changed jobs several times, and he would always come to visit me wherever I worked. He brought boxes of fresh-made assorted doughnuts (I’d love to have one right now), and I supplied the coffee. After he would leave, my coworkers always closed in on the doughnuts. Sometimes they would ask me when his next visit would be! My friend told me many stories of his service in the NAVY during WWII. He was a gunnery sighter on a battleship in the Pacific Battle Theatre. He really made me see the horror of war. However, he was also very funny–quick with one-liners! The funniest story that he ever told me involved an immovable cow. We live in a mountainous area, and my friend loved to ski down through the trees and out into the open fields. One day, the conditions were perfect, and he raced down the mountain, pushing as hard as could so he could almost fly. He did fly, right into the side of a very large, immobile cow. The impact sent him over the top of the cow and almost knocked him out. The cow never moved of made a sound, just blew out breaths into the cold air. That ended the skiing in that field! We enjoyed many meals together, particularly at a steak house with an “all-you-can-eat” buffet. We noticed that the baked potatoes that came with the steaks seemed to get larger each time we ordered, so we started to bet on how big the potatoes would be. One day, they were so huge, when the waiter came around the corner with the tray, my friend said out loud “Boulders!”. That almost destroyed me. I laughed until I cried, and my friend sat there with a straight face. Everyone stared, including the management. Mercifully, we didn’t get thrown out, and they let us continue as customers. My friend was very, very ill the last few years of his life with a painful debilitative disease. I was honored that he wanted me to sit with him. Truly honored. I cried my heart out at his funeral service, all the way to grave sight. I lost more than a friend. I lost a hero. He lives in my heart, and I miss him every day.

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I too, live in the land of the boring…I don’t know anyone who I would consider colorful and I have no imagination to make one up either.

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My aunt was a colorful character. She was a great lady and as a kid I adored her. She would gaze into space and all of a sudden make a weird and funny comment. She talked with her hands and hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe. She was unpredictable and totally herself. Didn’t care what people thought. Sadly this also included her lack of interest in her appearance.

She showed up on my 10th birthday party wearing one blue and one brown shoe. She had her vest on backward and her hair resembled a abandoned bird nest. And she told everyone who wanted to hear it, and also everyone that did not want to hear it, that she didn’t believe in undergarments. I’m not kiddin! She wore bright red lipstick and pink nail polish, so what it didn’t match. She was fun, real loving and unique.

Sometimes I wish I was more like her. No of course I don’t want to wear two different shoes or my clothes on backwards but I don’t want to care so much about how others perceive me. I want to do as I like all the time for people seem to talk about you, period.

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I have an a great aunt who is a colourful character. She was politically active in the 1930′s before it was “acceptable” for women. She joined the military in WW2. She has remained politically active into her 90′s. She has some great stories to tell.

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We have a friend whose daughter just got married and the friend’s parents were out dancing the whole time and they have to be in their 80s.

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I befriended this older woman who was a fascinating and well travelled individual. She was the first friend that I made when I moved to a new town and she always recounted her family history, her travels and her experiences which were quite unusual and memorable. Once time she mentioned when she was with her grown sons in Italy they were strolling through a charming town and speaking English, although she is fluent in Italian. The men who were conversing in the storefronts did not know her fluency and made amusing remarks. She stood there and responded and they were floored. They invited her and her sons in for a homecooked meal which she has never forgotten. Whenever I am lonely we go out together and she regales me with more stories and laughter than I have in a year.

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My great-aunt taught me to cuss like no one’s business (and to drink, for that matter, though I never caught onto that quite as well). When I get fan mail that chastises my characters for swearing, I always want to refer them to my auntie!

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Thanks for all the comments. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with boring acquaintances!

Virginia C and Anne–You’re my winners!!

Please email me through my website http://www.cindykirk.com and let me know what type of romances you prefer–historical, contemporary, paranormal, romantic suspense etc.

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