Integrity after the Nashville flood

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . March 20, 2011 . 12:02PM

When Nashville was flooded at the end of April last year, it shook the community. Strangely enough, Nashville didn’t get much national media coverage, nor did we receive very much financial assistance from outside sources. Celebrities outside of Nashville didn’t rush to hold telethons to help us nor did the President rush in to assist us. Rather, the people in Nashville pulled together to work as a whole and fix what was broken. The celebrities that lived here put on concerts to assist in relief efforts, or donated cash to help out, and the Nashville flood went quietly into the record books.

Except it didn’t. We just aren’t whining about it. It’s still affecting people here, almost a year later. Insurance companies rushed to deny people coverage and avoid responsibility. People lost homes, businesses and their lives. Some haven’t recovered, may never recover, from the trauma of a rain that came on with less than a couple of hours notice.

In the face of adversity, there are signs of character, however, and sometimes it is important to note that character when it is seen, because it can be so rare. In my small town of Franklin, TN, there was an area of town where the businesses and homes faced extreme devastation. While all of those people and places deserve mention, there is something in particular I feel is important. Our Sonic burger joint was destroyed. It was shut down for almost 8 months because there was just no way they could make the old building work after what happened to it.

You may believe there is nothing important as to a business being shut down and rebuilt after a flood. Here is what makes it special. The other evening, I was sitting and watching my son play Little League Baseball. The people that make his baseball, and the baseball for this entire community, happen, have had extreme difficulty finding sponsors. It seems that with the flood and the economy, people just aren’t willing to reach into their pockets so little kids can play baseball. Businesses have to run and make a profit and all of those things, so when it comes down to it, sponsoring a little kids baseball team might not mean much to a local business facing the adversity of the economy. When gas is $3.49 a gallon (at last check), decisions have to be made. I get it.

However, those children feel the burn of the economy, too, as do their parents, and trust me when I say that the parents are very aware of who the sponsors of these teams are and what they are doing for the kids. So, as I sat there watching my precious cargo smile and throw a ball and learn how to play on a team and laugh, I looked at those sponsor signs and smiled. I chose to eat at Jet’s Pizza that night because they sponsored the Franklin Baseball Club. As I looked around, however, I noticed there were a plethora of signs from…Sonic?

Truly? I knew the local Sonic had been a huge sponsor in seasons past, but they lost everything last year. How could they afford to stay in the game this year? Not only did they sponsor the teams, but they also placed brand new signs (much needed!) designating the visitor and home sides on each and every bullpen. My eyes blurred with tears and I thought about the sacrifices people make to help others when things are not easy for them and it made me realize that for all the people that have not moved forward, some have done so spectacularly.

My local Sonic has done amazing things. They have rebuilt with a gorgeous building and landscaping, the food is actually better than it was, the service more prompt and I enjoy going there a lot more now. I will be giving them my business as much as is possible because I know that they support my son, my community, and myself. It’s important to support the places that are willing to stick their necks and their pennies out there to make the community a better place for all of us. They are investing in our kids.

Thanks, Sonic. I want you to know, today, that I appreciate what you are doing to make it possible for my kid to play this season. They didn’t have enough sponsors and when that happens, kids don’t get to play, like my son didn’t last fall. Thank you.

I can’t get that song out of my head!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . September 16, 2010 . 12:19AM

Yesterday, AJ and I were sitting on the couch and I heard him singing. He loves to sing, but rarely does it in front of people. I remember when he was in the womb and he’d bounce to certain songs when they’d come on the radio. He’d kill me if he knew I was telling you his favorite song was “Lucky” by Britney Spears. No joke. The kid would bounce like a fiend when it came on, as it was popular at the time, and you could see the outline of two little fists coming out of my stomach like little Alien movie wannabes. It was both frightening and exhilarating for me as a mother-to-be to recognize that my son had a personality even at that stage.

I’m really glad he has no idea where this blog is, nor does he read it, or he’d likely never speak to me again for telling you what I just told you.

Anyway, the boy loves music. He’ll sing in front of people when we play Rock Band but only because it’s “for the music.” I told you he has personality. When I tell people my kid is cool they don’t really believe me and they don’t really understand until they meet him and realize that he actually does seem to process things differently than other kids his age. There’s a 36-year-old hair band member in that 9-year-old body. At 3, his favorite song was by Bon Jovi.

I digress, I digress. I have no idea why anyone reads this blog because all I do is digress. I’ve turned into my 80-something grandmother.

So, AJ loves music. Yes, that was like 4 paragraphs ago. Get off my lawn. I heard him humming on the couch. Wait, that’s not true. It wasn’t just humming. It was full out song. “She’ll be coming round the mountain when she commmmmmmmmmmes, when she comes. She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes.” I’m sure they learned the whole song. This was the part that was stuck in his head, though. For an hour I heard this until finally I looked at him, made sure he saw me, gave him my most charming grin and sang loudly, “She’ll be coming round the mountain, she’ll be coming round the mountain, she’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes!”

He couldn’t stop laughing. The giggles overtook him, then me. We laughed loud and long together. He gasped at me, “Ma-Ma-Mama, I couldn’t help it! It just got stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away!” We sang it a couple more times and laughed louder and longer. We often sing together in the car. Lately it’s been songs from Glee. Yesterday it was songs from elementary school.

Now if I can just get the theme song for Veronica Mars out of my own head, I’ll be set.

Instant Smile: Just add water

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . July 22, 2010 . 10:38PM

Growing up in the mid-80′s, the slip-n-slide was the hot new thing. It really wasn’t much of anything, to be quite honest. It was a small piece of plastic that you put in between your sprinklers. You would run, slide about 4 feet and roll off into the grass while accruing scrapes, cuts, grass burn and the silliest faces and giggles you’d ever seen from your friends. Then you’d jump up and do it again because it. was. awesome.

I wanted one of those little yellow pieces of plastic more than anything.

Luckily, I lived just down the road from my cousins and their parents were much crazier than mine. Or, it’s quite possible they knew that the secret to peace of mind over that particular summer lay in an enlarged water bill and a little piece of yellow plastic. Either way, my cousins got the slip-n-slide and I got to walk the quarter of a mile to their place every day to bust my butt on the plastic and the hard dirt underneath.

Run Run Run Run Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide YES I’M FLYING NO NO NO I’m rollling! OUCH!

And back in line I’d go. And don’t think it was a short line. I wasn’t the only kid who knew about my cousin’s slip-n-slide. We lived in the country and the neighbor kids heard. So did their parents, and their parents weren’t going to pony up for a slip-n-slide or a water bill either. We’d dutifully get in line about ten kids back until we bled enough that it just stung too much to go again that day.

Nowadays, oh how old I feel saying nowadays, nowadays, the slip-n-slide has become so fancy! You can slide into a pool! The piece of plastic is HUGE and there are safeguards for those wimpy kids who care about bleeding. On the 4th of July, I found out exactly how intricate the whole slip-n-slide industry had become.

In Nashville on the 4th, our downtown area is amazing. Truly an amazing sight to behold is the area by the river that just lights up with booths of any kind of food you’d like, booths where you can buy the coolest hats on earth and a whole street dedicated to the littlest cowboys and cowgirls in the city.

As jets flew over the city celebrating our Independence, we walked around with bottled water and looked to see what was happening in our fair land. My little sister marveled at the cute boys. My mom wanted to go see what was going on down by the river. And me? I kept getting pulled towards these huge inflatable bouncy things, as all moms do.

After getting a stamp on his hand that made all the rides FREE, AJ was off. One of the first few rides to catch his eye was a large slip-n-slide. When I say slip-n-slide, I don’t mean one close to the ground. This inflatable wonder was about 4 feet off the ground and looked like a long island. Kids would run and jump UP onto it where sprinklers would shoot down onto them for about 20 feet. The line was short, but the joy was long.

I stood by the end and watched as child after child, including my own, jumped onto it and laughed themselves silly. It’s not been a great summer by any standards, but I couldn’t stop laughing along with them. The thing about joy is that it is utterly contagious. Some would jump up there, realize “OH NO THERE IS WATER UP HERE” and try to get down until mom or dad would take their hand and then lead them through the slide. After which, they would cry to go back on. There was a devilish little thing, who couldn’t have been more than three, who would go through the whole thing, slam his body down to the concrete after he got done, like the hulk, and give devil hands. I’m not kidding. Just like the orange ones to the right. He was totally “rock and roll” about the slide. And AJ? AJ would run, jump, slide, fall on his bottom, laugh and do it over and over again. He probably did it 30 times. I laughed just as hard as he did every time.

Yes, children are amazing and sometimes the smallest things in life are a recipe for joy. Just add water.