Have to tell you - I enjoyed that post, too. Isn't it strange what we allow our "religious affiliation" to inflict on us over the years. I am a Baptist. But occasionally Steve and I DO have a glass of wine or he might have a Long Island Iced Tea with dinner, but yep, we're told by our "Baptist" church we CAN'T drink. I don't drink around people who aren't Christians only because they EXPECT us to be holier-than-thou and I don't want to be someone's excuse for getting drunk and saying, "Well, Bevely drinks". I just don't want that on my guilt trips. I have enough of those as it is.

In saying that, this is the perfect opportunity to send you this e-mail I received this morning.

A cowboy, moves to Wyoming from Texas , walks into a bar and orders three mugs of beer. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replies, "Well, I have two brothers. One in Arizona , the other in Colorado . When we all left our home in Texas , we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.

One day, he comes in and only orders 2 mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the 2nd round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs.

"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."

"Hasn't affected my brothers though."

:)

Love, Bevely