If You Don't Have Nothing Good To Say

If you can’t think of anything good to say, then keep your mouth shut. When you think about it, that really sage advice, it’s just too bad I never took it. It is the combination of two pieces of advice given to me by my grandmothers. 

 Mind you, my two grandmas were pretty different individuals. Grandma Thornton was a quiet and reserved southern woman always putting her family first, a real throwback to the moms of the depression era. 

 My Grandma Geiger on the other hand, raised a family during the War and on into the post war years of the 50’s and 60’s. She was a bit louder, a bit more urban, a chain smoker for many years, and never one without a word to say. 

 The advice they had given about being a good listener and keeping my mouth shut were two solid pieces of advice, it’s just putting that advice to work has escaped me over the years. Maybe the thing I should ask myself is, why remember that advice anyway if you're not going to heed it? 

 You know my answer for that would be, lots of times we all know better. Sitting where you are right now, think about how many things you've done today you’re parents warned you about doing? If you're honest you probably quit at twenty. 

 I guess the point to mentioning this failure in my character is to say, no one’s perfect, not even grandma. But that doesn't keep us from hearing those voices from our past. Reminding us of where we came from and whom came from. 

 So now it is our job to tell the next generation that sage advice we were given, even though they may not listen to it any better than you did. We do it all the same. Thanks, Grandma. 

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