Can I Get An Alien?

Spanky Marcel Percy Alien Jones
Photo courtesy of
http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/

Foreword: Yep, with this post, a foreword is definitely necessary! Below is a series of three separate perspectives on the same experience. Mine (Dawn), and those of my two dear friends, Lisa and Irma Kaye. We all hope that you’ll all take time to read through all three sections, even though it does make for a lengthy post. The whole experience makes perfect sense if you do take the time to read each separate section, through to the end.

We can guarantee you’ll get a chuckle or two and perhaps a new fun word to toss out in conversation! We all three hope that you’ll take time to visit our respective blogs, and to that end, we have posted hyperlinks/links back to each of our blog pages. You’ll find the links at the end of each section, next to our byline. ~ Dawn, Lisa & Irma Kaye

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How it all started:
You know how friendship works. If you're very fortunate, you meet people along your life path and click instantly with them. Your heart remembers them immediately and the connection starts right back up where it left off in the mists of time. Simple enjoyment of one another exists. In short order, you lose sight of when you actually met, because you feel that you've known them forever. Quickly thereafter, Secret Code begins to happen.

Secret Code, you ask? Yes. I'm sure you've experienced it. It is a short-hand language of sorts, cobbled together from a variety of experiences. They're usually loaded with hilarity, prompted by absurdity and become that Insider Lingo between you...a quick reference that only the two of you, or the group of you, understand.

If any of you are connected to me via Facebook, you may have noticed some Secret Code being slung around here and there. One of them has grown into a life of its own, so much so that those of us involved in the genesis of it think it should be shared.

Several months back, Lisa B. and I were commenting in a Facebook thread on Irma Kaye S.'s wall. I honestly don't recall what the focus of that thread was. It was late at night and I was sleep deprived. As a result, I glanced at a comment that Irma Kaye had made and I read it wrong - when I'm very fatigued, dyslexia will creep in and I will transpose letters/words, or I'll just see the whole sentence in a completely wrong manner. Irma Kaye's comment ended with, "Can I get an amen on that?"

I, however, read it as, "Can I get an alien on that?"

In my head, I'm automatically thinking, "An ALIEN? Why would she want an alien? How odd is THAT? WHO in their right mind would ask for such a thing.... OH. Wait, she said 'amen'. Not 'alien'."

In my sleep deprived state, this struck me as too funny to keep to myself, so I typed all of the above in Irma Kaye's thread. Lisa, being her endearing, lovely self took it to new heights of hilarity, running with a revival theme something along these lines:

"Can you get an alien, Dawnie? You most certainly can! *raises hands to the Heavens to testify*. Alien NOW!"

Now, let me also share that Lisa and I have this ongoing game we play that we robbed from the cell phone "Can you hear me now?" commercials.

Lisa: "Can you hear me now? *waits 12 seconds* How 'bout now? Now? No, wait...wait...NOW, now. No, NOW! Right? NOW????"

Lisa and I play this game often, in Facebook posts, email and texting, because it makes us laugh. She morphed that game into the new Alien Game. The new short-hand, Secret Code of same is: "Can I get an Alien?" And in reply, "Alien NOW!"

About two weeks ago, Irma Kaye and I were chatting in yet another Facebook thread and she cracked us both up with this: "When we type (alien now) <--this is our 'inside alien voice'."

Of course, I had to share this with Lisa. Lisa, in turn, responded with: "And 'Alien NOW' is the turning-cartwheels-down-the-hallway-shouting-it-to-the-rooftops broadcasting version!"

So, my friends, anytime you see me in a Facebook thread, or in Twitter, typing the words, "Alien", or "Alien NOW", or any future version of the word or phrase, you'll know some of the back story. Perhaps you'll be chuckling along with us! Maybe this whole post will have you wondering why you spent time clicking over here to read this, as it isn’t the norm for my posts. Those who know me and my slightly off-center sense of humor will undoubtedly be smiling and laughing.

Life is not always meant to be ponderous and serious, I think. Indeed, Life is punctuated by those bright moments of hilarity, irreverence and sheer silliness between friends. I'm blessed beyond belief with this strong network of Sister Friends - that family that we choose, as opposed to the family we're born into. I managed to be doubly blessed that both my blood family and my heart family are populated with equally beautiful souls. I look about me quite often and marvel at the richness of friendship and family that surrounds me, and the love that flows. These people love me and accept me for who I am, quirks and all, and I offer the same acceptance towards them. These little funnies add flair, nonsense, color, verve and pure fun to each encounter and lift the heart and spirit as a result. I am a better person for having each of these special women in my life.

Eventually, I'm going to meet both these wonderful ladies in person and I'll have photographs to share. Lisa and I happen to be similar in complexion, which is of the ultra-fair variety. Milky pale skin is what we're talking about. Lisa claimed a while back that when we DO try to do pictures together, we'll probably break technology with our fairness...the digital camera eye will struggle so much to capture our images without a glare being thrown off our skin. I fell out laughing on that one, and you can see why I love her so much. Zany humor makes life so much more enjoyable!

Lisa is going to add her side of the story to this post, and I look forward to reading her thoughts. Then Irma Kaye will finish the series with her thoughts. I'll close my section with a favorite quote that I feel defines this little story:

You that would judge me, do not judge alone this book or that, come to this hallowed place where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon; Ireland's history in their lineaments trace; think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.  ~ William Butler Yeats

~ S. Dawn Sievers, Healing Morning blog
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As the massively successful Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story.” (at least my part)

I’ll never forget the night Alien came into being. I saw Dawnie’s comment and threw my head back laughing. I could hear her “voice” in the post, and Irma could too, and the teasing commenced! The next thing you knew three ladies separated by large amounts of geography were united in laughter, we were for that silly little comment thread not thinking of anything but giving each other joy and fun.

As Dawn pointed out, not everything in life needs to be a contemplative serious thing to teach us a lesson, and in the midst of that thread, we all learned that lesson again. Dawn’s life is a concentration of serious things being self employed and searching for the truths of this world and the next. Irma is her twin in those aspects, and me, well my exploration of grief and loss isn’t feather light either. In the midst of the “Alien” though, none of us were thinking about any of the weight or the distance, but were unified in laughter and light.

It is a lesson that stuck with us, obviously; we have developed our little secret code and have over the last couple months cheered each other with more “Aliens” and their new additions than I can count. It is our way to show each other solidarity, to say ‘I love you’, and to remind each other take a moment to smile (or giggle).

Being the contemplative ladies we are, though, and people who each in our own way hope, pray, and take actions to try to make the world better for us having been there…keeping it secret just wouldn’t do. Nope, not at all!

Joy is one of those things that if you keep what you have, you’ll only have as much as you have. If you give it away, then you have more, and the more joy you give, the more joy you have! Slowly, so not to make everyone think we’ve gone completely crazy, we have started telling the story and bringing new “alien” converts into the fold. That wasn’t enough either! So, we started the idea of a blog post about the experience!

I can’t speak for my sisters, but I know why I was inspired to share this little moment of joy. I wanted people to remember to look for their “Alien” moments. Now, if you want to hop in with us and Alien each other, I’m not going to be offended at all! In fact, I’m going to giggle and laugh with you, in the same unity I do now with Dawnie and Irma. But watching people find their own inside joke will fill me with so much joy, because like our moment it will bring you memories, sisters, brothers, and perhaps a little lighter heart than you had before.

~ Lisa Brandel, The Widow Lady blog
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And finally:
So, now after reading Dawn and Lisa's brilliant telling of our "Alien" story, I think everyone is up to speed with the awesome silliness of our great inside joke. I treasure both of these women so much in my life and am grateful to the internet and Facebook for connecting me with both of them in the first place. Though we are placed at very different places on the US map and have had varied life experiences, that doesn't seem to matter. We are three peas in a pod, no doubt, and sometimes you just know. When I was reading their posts today, this quote popped into my mind:

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one. ~ C.S. Lewis

How wonderful it has been to have met these extraordinary, brilliant and at times downright hilarious women. It's amazing the camaraderie, support and love that grew out of that snapshot in time, from a silly little inside joke. Can I get an Alien now? :)

~ Irma Kaye Sawyer, The Bright Star Blog