Everything I learned in life, I learned from the town of Mayberry.

Mayberry was a cozy little town in North Carolina. The High Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) knew every one.  He handed out judgments like Solomon, he always got his man like the Mounties. He was quiet, strong, attracted the ladies and solved all crises much like 007.

He had a strong sense of family and obligation to his neighbors, so these are some things I learned from Mayberry.

1.   Never give up. Barney tried and tried to be the macho deputy and him always landed on his backside with his foot firmly entrenched in his mouth. He was a great source of amusement to the townspeople; still he was right back up on his feet by the next show. He persevered .I tried to teach the same value to my kids. I have been lucky all of us have had periods of looking at the world from the bottom up and climbed back to the top. Just like Barney

2.   Be Frugal: Aunt Bee was always looking for bargains and deals. Clara, her friend always steeled her towards cocky deals that somehow went astray. Still Aunt Bea fell for it every time. Denise can squeeze the buffalo right off his mound on the nickel. She shops the ads, clips coupons, and buys off brands. She goes to the grocery store because she has the knack of adding items in her head and almost hitting the total on the head. I am forever impulse buying. Denise would never listen to Clara, she would explore it herself.

3.

Denise and Bree after paddle boarding

   Always be willing to try new things. Opie wasn't ever afraid to dive in and find new friends, learn new games, as well as accepting the consequence. For instance he killed a mama bird and raised her babies to atone for it. This past weekend, my beloved family decided to go paddle boarding and Kayaking. I love the beach, and I could live there. But, I can’t swim. Even so, we piled in the cars, met Bree and Eric at the Cooper River to try this new sport. It was a warm and muggy Charleston evening. Quite humid because it had been raining that morning. Denise asked me to tag along and take pictures of her falling off the paddle board, as well as pictures of

Eric and Natasha Paddle boarding.

Natasha dumping the canoe, Eric and herself in the Cooper River. Luckily neither of these things occurred well a boat did try to run Denise over, a boat landing jumped up and pushed her into the water where she made friends with several oysters nestled together in an oyster bed. Well maybe a few more then several, maybe 500.What they did see was dolphins, serenely swimming and sneaking up to the boat and the paddle board to see what was going on, schools of fish and the Cooper join gently with the Atlantic. We ended the day with Denise soaked, bruised, Tasha slightly wet Eric and Bree no worse for the wear and tear.However, when Denise and the oysters met, she did cut her leg up pretty. But no Oysters were hurt in the fall.

4.   Families are not perfect. Opie got in trouble, Aunt Bee felt inadequate, and Andy had women problems, neighbor problems, Barney problems and escaped convicts. Your family loves you, stands behind you and the ones you run home to for comfort. Families are also so close together they bicker, snicker and are irritated with one another July Fourth we all went to fireworks poor Bree had already put in a full day’s work, Denise was on her 7^th day after working 6 12-14 hour days. Everyone had to work Saturday. Tasha was complaining and whining because she was hot, tired and walking while carry a chair(mind you; it was a portable chair weighed at most 3 ozs canvas and all) was a kin to child abuse to her, she was just about ready to call the county and complain. After hours of whine, any one of us would have handed her our phone, (kidding). The thing is even though we had the perfect recipe for disaster, we tiffed a bit, and pouted some, became inpatient; the thing I remember most was I spent the day with my four favorite people in the whole world. Nothing else mattered and I still feel warm and fuzzy about the whole day. Love conquers all, and I love my family.

5.   In the end everything will be all right. At the end of every episode everything was resolved; Mayberry returned to normal, Granted, it doesn't always work that way for us. Life is not tied up in a neat little 30 minute drama that is quickly solved. My grandmother used to say everything has a season, so it does, it would be nice if our seasons were only a half an hour every week, or even and hours. I would love to have the problems Andy does. But of course, that is ridiculous. Life is not like that. Losing a loved one whether it is a Child, wife, father, husband that season never ends. Losing a job. Having to choose between rent and groceries. Watching your baby graduate from high school. Holding your first grandchild, (how can I be a grandmother? When did my child stop being my baby?) Watching your kids fall in love. Your heart breaks when their new love hurt them. Mayberry taught me that things happen, but life goes on. In the end everything will be all right: if it’s not all right, it’s not the end.

   Of course The Andy Griffith show is just a television show from the 50s and 60s. In reality, wouldn't life be great if we all lived in Mayberry? Alas,  not possible. But if we can just remember the basic morale and tone of this fiction place...well you know.