My Good Buddy Ralph

For the last few weeks, I have been meaning to do a post about my good buddy Ralph. I probably should start by giving you a little background on the man. First, his name is not really Ralph at all. I will be calling him that to protect his privacy, and also because he is a bit of a story teller and most of his stories involve a make-believe person named, wait for it, yes, you guessed it, Ralph!

Ralph and I met a few years back, I guess it would be about 5 or 6 years by now. We got to know each other because of a marriage. Actually we met a while before the marriage, but the wedding day was probably the first lengthy meeting. It was a beautiful day on the coast of Maine. Everything was about as perfect as it could be. There was certainly an abundance of food. I think I gained 5 pounds that day, and it was ALL Ralph's fault! That man does not ever want to run out of food, and of course, he just happened to really stock up on all my favorites. The shrimp and cocktail sauce and the bacon wrapped scallops were everywhere. Each time I turned around, there was Ralph sticking the tray right in my face. I swear the guy single-handedly caused my cholestrol level to go up 50 points. The day finally wrapped up and it was then that I was able to take a break and let my poor overstuffed belly have a break. This was not the last time I was to be filled past capacity by this man's seafood buying habits. It's my own fault, I let him learn my weakness and now he exploits it.

My wife and I traveled down to the southern part of the state a few weeks ago to visit family. Ralph and his wife have a lovely home with a completely finished basement which is actually like a complete separate home, and they insisted we stay there. Their hospitality is unbelievable. Any way, back to the story. Ralph and I always end up talking politics and this weekend was no exception. Ralph is not what I would call a leftard or even an extreme liberal, BUT, he does lean quite a ways to the left.

During the course of the day, Ralph had informed me that he had a surprise which he was leaving on the bed. When the wife and I finally got around to calling it a day, I had completely forgotten the "surprise." I was about to be reminded. There, on my pillow, was a card with NObama's AUTOGRAPHED picture on it! I ended up staying wide awake ALL night! Every time I closed my eyes for a moment, I started having nightnares.

I was so tempted to destroy that card but I just couldn't. First, it was just a joke, and second, I would never do that to a friend. Besides, the card had been a gift to Ralph from his daughter and my son. We laughed like hell the next day.

There's a reason I am introducing you all to Ralph. I have found that we can talk about the politics and goings on of the day in a rational manner which leaves us both with a better understanding of how other people view what is happening. We joke about stuff, but we respect each other immensely. I feel that I have a more thorough understanding of what makes the other side tick.

Ralph so far, is the only person that I know in real life that I have shown my blog to. We haven't talked yet since I showed him how to use his computer to visit me. I am very anxious to see what he thinks. He visits almost every day and maybe someday he will get up the nerve to comment. If he does, I hope 2 things. One is that he will be treated with respect, which I know he will. The second is that he doesn't take over my blog. Ralph is quite witty. I'm sure you will all like him.