Saturday, May 05, 2007

The Pursuit of Happiness

I gave a talk this evening to 300 mothers and daughters at a local church. We had a lovely meal, an elderly gentleman read a poem he'd written about his mother, and then I spoke. The event included a silent auction of purses made by women of the church, and the theme of the evening was "The Pursuit of Happiness."

Afterwards, I stopped to talk with a spunky little woman wearing an interesting silk chiffon skirt of many tiers and many colors. Her short gray hair was spiked up all over head, and her neck and arms were laden with ethnic gold. She was wearing gold mesh kitten heels. She told me that she's 74 years old. And then she told me she'd recently begun selling sex toys.

I kid you not. Sex toys.

There she was, sitting next to the church's music minister, surrounded by presumably godly women, telling me she'd just bought $2,000 worth of sex toys and was now selling them to friends and neighbors. She happened to mention that she planned to give a "soft box" to her recently divorced son for his birthday.

I don't know what that is and didn't ask. I was totally afraid she'd tell me how he was going to pursue happiness with that.

12 comments:

Amber said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!*snort*

Bless.Her.HEART!

And now you have a Pocket Rocket hook up! Yay you! ;)

:)

holly said...

Laughing out loud! I love this woman. God, hope I'm like her at 74!

did you look up what a soft box is?

Jess said...

So funny. So great. Maybe she should sell something to my grandmother. Um, actually, let's not go there.

What I want to know is, what did YOU say to all those people about happiness?

Suzy said...

Hmmm....that's a "hard" act to follow.

Deb Shucka said...

Now that's the kind of girl we all should aspire to be. I love this woman! Thanks for giving me a light for my day today and for the laugh at the picture of you listening to her and keeping a straight face.

What did you talk about?

Anonymous said...

I want to be like that when I'm older. LOL!

kario said...

Suzy! Shame on you ;-).

Honestly - I love this woman! I wonder how much of her "happiness" comes from seeing the looks on people's faces when she tells them about her new job...

Michelle O'Neil said...

Yes, the myth of the sweet old lady.

Love when it is shattered.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Ditto Suzy!

riversgrace said...

I think she was sent just for you, Jerri! Like all the wonderful women who come to life in your stories....now they are actually manifesting around you!

So funny, love how you tell it.

Alijah Fitt said...

Oh My God, I'm blushing! LOL

Kim said...

Love her!!