Handshakes

Have you ever had to shake hands with someone who had such an atrocious handshake it made you shudder? I recently met someone who had what I call the “dead fish handshake”. Their hand was completely limp. (And slightly slimy…eew!) My Dad always told me that one can learn a lot about a person by the way they shake hands. The following are my observations of what one can learn from a handshake.

The shrinking shake: This is the handshake that lasts less than a second, (often accompanied by distinct fishiness of the deceased variety) which clearly communicates dislike or discomfort.

The speed shake: At the end of this shake, one is often surprised to find that his hand has not vibrated off! Often fueled by the exuberance of youth, this shake clearly denotes enthusiasm or excitement. –Or a rather extreme excess of caffeine or sugar. : )

The trick shake: This shake could take several forms, and is usually completely unpredictable. Such a shake reveals a personality with an all-too-healthy dose of mischief in it.

The rival shake: In order to experience this shake, one must participate. Instead of maintaining an appropriately firm grasp of the other person’s hand, both parties grip as hard as they can for as long as they can, or until one surrenders. This shake reveals a competitive or adversarial spirit.

The warm shake: This is the best kind of shake. Hearty, firm, and often accompanied by a happy smile, this shake communicates warmth of feeling and friendship.

Just like Daddy always says, you can learn a lot from a handshake. What does yours say about you?

My First Proposal

Last summer I had my very first proposal, offered by a sweet and very handsome young man, with dark brown eyes and a charming smile. –But before anyone gets too excited, perhaps I should mention that the charming young gentleman was my eight-year-old nephew. : )

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He and his two sisters had come to stay with us for three days, and since the box of toys was (and sadly, is) still buried somewhere deep in our massive garage, we played with some of the random things they found in my room. At one point, one of them found a little box of rings which kept them all pleasantly occupied for quite some time. My youngest niece, who was about to turn two, was delighted with it, and immediately started sorting the tangled mess of rings, (That’s my girl!) : ) while her older sister tried each one on to see if any were small enough to fit her. My nephew, however, looked carefully through the box until he found a ring with a pretty rhinestone in it and asked me --in a very deep, but equally silly voice-- to marry him. I laughed at the silly voice and explained that I couldn’t marry him, and he went away for a few moments. To my surprise, he came back with a ring that had a bigger stone in it, and said “Now will you marry me?” again I refused, and he went away, only to return with the biggest, most gaudy ring he could find, and triumphantly declared, “Now you have to marry me!”

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It always amazes me what these little ones come up with! Whether we realize it or not, they are ever watching us and learning from our examples. May God help us each to be the much-needed godly examples for those younger than we!