An 80 Year Old Hoot

I'm usually not the one who talks trash about other people's religions. Most religions, in my opinion, teach good things. Growing up with my paternal grandmother being a budhist, my mom a catholic, and my dad a pretend catholic, I had been exposed to both religions.

I attended budhist temples with my grandmother, breathed in a whole bunch of incense smog, then ate a whole bunch of sweets. The rest of the food, I didn't eat. They were all vegetarian. They did a lot of chanting, too. I had no clue what that was all about. But, I enjoyed those times. I enjoyed being with my grandmother.

My grandmother did not want us to be baptized. My mom had us baptized anyway. However, my mom didn't take us to church often. Actually, I didn't remember my mom taking us to church. It was only until I was in fifth grade when my grandmother suddenly changed her mind and encouraged me and my siblings to attend classes for First Communion and Confirmation.

So, I became a catholic and have been one since.

When I came to the US, I was very surprised to find people knocking on our door trying to teach us the Bible. They were extremely persistent, annoying at times.

Anyway, today, I saw a patient who is in her early 80s. She's a tiny Vietnamese lady who smokes a lot, drinks often, and also loves to gamble. She would not quit smoking despite her asthmatic symptoms. And she is a budhist. Apparently, there were some Jehovah's Witnesses who had been trying to convert an 80 something year old woman who has been a budhist all her life. She told me that, for over four years, they had come to teach her their beliefs every Wednesday and take her out to eat every Sunday. How they communicated with her...beats me! At the end of the day, she told me, they dropped her...after four long years!

LOL...She laughed and said it was because she refused to stop smoking, never cut down on her drinking, and continued to indulge in gambling!!! She was a hoot!!!...LOL.

I guess we are who we are...why force to change?