Greg Gorman from Naples, FL tagged me for this "MeMe."

Here is the way it works:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the Closest.
6. Tag five people to do the same

*The one book that this can not be is the Bible*

Well this was the first thing I saw this morning when I was having coffee at our kitchen table and I replied back to Greg "This will be fun, Greg. As soon as I get my eyes open this morning I'll get going. The John Maxwell book you had is one my wife has. She's a bank manager and has several of his books that she'd recommend highly."

The next thought was, gee I hope this is not embarrassing, I hope it's not "Everything you ever wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask" or some similar book. Or it could very well have been a cookbook, since Charmaine has been working on Thanksgiving already. No cookbooks around, so I looked in the next room that we call the 'office' or 'library' but is used for neither really.

First bookshelf I came to, closest book on the top shelf. Ah, Greg, you're gonna make me look good today!

(OK, I cheated, the first book was really the Spanish Dictionary. Page 56, the 5th word was croqueta = croquette. The next book is the one I choose to use!)

The book that was closest to me was "Married for Life" by Bill Morelan

Here is the fifth sentence from the 56th page from the chapter "Agree that it's ok to disagree":

"If you and your wife plan to remain travel partners for life, you must find ways to prevent simple differences of opinion from escalating into verbal warfare powerful enough to send you on your separate ways. It's imperative that you to learn to "fight fair" when disagreements arise. In other words, put up with each other."

A quick, true story about how this is really right!

A couple of Fridays ago we had a pretty bad windstorm that hit the Ballentine, Whiterock, Chapin, SC area and as mother nature would have it, it happened right at 5 o'clock. We had a dead tree to blow down in just the right spot in the front yard, but about 5 feet of it was sticking out in the road.  I had already assessed the damage and, as husbands do, said, "I'll deal with it in the morning."

Darkness fell as Charmaine came in, and she insisted that we go out there with a chain-saw and cut the tree up and get it out of the street.  I said, "Ah, let it stay there, It'll be OK."  She started putting on jeans and looking for her work gloves, preparing to go out and move the tree herself.

We were both tired and an argument ensued. I was right - not gonna go fooling with a chain saw in the dark, it's dangerous, people can just drive around it til tomorrow! She was right - it was dangerous for traffic in the street, we don't want to cause an accident.

We had a nice discussion (and a loud one), which she won, but we laughed about it later. She, as wives do, has a clever way of bringing a subject up several days later, and reminding me that she was more right than I was.

At any rate, "Put up with each other" is a great motto!  Remember the four words that are the key to a happy marriage, "You're right, I'm sorry!"

Now, I get to tag 5 people:

Liz Moras up in Canada.  I know she's well read!

Kelly Kilpatrick in California.  The west coast influence.

Paul Jones in Missouri.  Show us Paul!

Brian Block in Washington, DC.  Some good sense in the capitol.

Troy Erickson in Arizona.  Because I see he has a good woman at his side!

This post is dedicated to my lovely wife, who is always right! 

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