Maxwell House.........

My miserly ways place me somewhere between Best Choice and Always Save... If yain't from the Midwest, that won't make sense - but those are products produced by a grocery chain... of course lower priced than national brands, Best Choice is one notch above Always Save, and generally the price, taste - falls accordingly.

On sale last week, Maxwell House. Bought. Drinking it now. Aside from the time I tried to impress a former girlfriend by purchasing a pound of her favorite Dunkin Donut Coffee - about as exotic as I get in coffee buying.

Good to the last drop. Yum, I love that saying - and their coffee.

There are people in this world we marvel at. Some, still here, some, ain't.

Rusty Kuntz, 1st base coach for the Kansas City Royals. Folks love Rusty, players, coaches, fans, even opposing players. It's said "He's never had a bad day in his life." There seems to be a common theme for "Good to the last drop" = nice, smile, fun.

Jimmy Mabery. I loved me some Jimmy Mabery, may he rest in peace. Class of 1969, he may have been the best running back to ever play at our High School. You'da never known it though. Fun, that guy was fun. Smile, that guy smiled. Nice, that dude was nice. One year older than me, he probably never knew how much me - and certainly scores of others, looked up to him. Our country was going thru transition. Jimmy happened to be African American. A trendsetter in fashion. Always drove the coolest cars. Fixed 'em himself if they had probs - but more than anything, he sucked every minute outta life. He was, the most popular dude in school.

Jimmy could go from 0 to 50 both on the football field and in his car faster than anything I'd ever seen. Balance. Man did he have balance. Gym class, during gymnastics - he'd have us all saying/thinking "Nuh uh, did he really just do that?" Football, three guys coming at him. He'd pause, they'd lunge, before you knew it he was four yards over and headed upfield for another touchdown. He coulda, probably shoulda, had a case of "the big head" - nope, not Jimmy, he was balanced.

As much as I'/we marveled at his duds, his physique (the guy didn't, never did have an ounce of fat on him), his cars, his backsprings, double flip dismounts, yards after contact - what made Jimmy special (to me anyways) was his thirst for life, fun. Liberty Public Schools, please close your ears. After High School, Jimmy was a mechanic at "The Bus Barn" working on school buses. He worked with my then brother inlaw - another 'good to the last drop' guy - and man did they have fun. One day I pulled up to visit. They had this trough, twenty feet long, maybe six feet deep by five foot wide, allowing them to change the oil from beneath the buses. (I hadta lookup 'trough' cause I don't think I'd ever written it before, and yep, that's how you spell it - I woulda thought 'troff' or something like that.)............

Anyways, on this particular day, they weren't changing oil. Nuh uh. They'd filled the trough with water and were swimming laps, dunking each other, splashing, but mostly laughing, having fun, living life good to the last drop. I will forever smile when thinking of Jimmy.

Yesterday - I played golf. A guy I went to college with was just finishing up as I arrived. There must be a kajillion "nicest guy (or gal) on the planet" - but he is one of those. How good is that? To be thought of as 'the nicest guy on the planet'? Again, the theme runs common: nice, smile, fun.

Funerals. We cry. We emote. I can't tell you how many funerals I've attended where I've sat there and thought "his/her family should be proud - what a nice, nice person... and HOW GOOD IS THAT to be thought of in that way going out?" Good to the last drop.

Ugly. We borrow a move from Jimmy when coming upon ugly. We pause, scoot four yards to either side, then continue downfield. Thankfully, our minds return to those in our lives who are nice, smile and have fun. Sounds easy, but I bet it ain't.

We are human. We fail. We blurt. We conscience all that.

Thank the Lord for 'good to the last drop' people. They remind us life is good. It can be fun, if we let it be. We can smile, a lot, if we so choose to. We can have fun, in nearly any dadgum thing we do, if we decide to.

I am human, hear me roar,
Thanks though life for these examples,
They help us soar.

Good to the last drop.

More coffee please,
Love, Victurd