This morning, as I got on the tollroad to head to the office, a song came on the radio that I’ve heard a million times before.  Except THIS time, THIS time, the words were different!  The song was Tra.in’s “Cab”.  And let me just start by saying that I am terrible with song lyrics, end up making up new ones, without intending to, because they don’t e-nun-ci-ate.  I would never have known the title to the song (or the band that sang it, for that matter), except that my car is on it’s last leg of X.M Radio and so there it was, written out for me to FINALLY KNOW THE TRUTH.  And this truth sparked my curiosity, because I had a feeling it would change everything I ever knew about the chorus.  And sure enough, after looking up the lyrics on the internet, in fact, the chorus says “Sometimes I think I’m the only cab on the road”, not “…the only CAT on the road.”

I think it’s genetic.  And I blame my mother for this.  She is notorious for MAKING THINGS UP – like combining two or three separate conversations with two different people to recount what ends up being some sort of choose her own adventure.  Or she’ll get names mixed up. Like when all three siblings are together, no matter which one she is talking to, she’ll call you by the name of one of the other two. 

For example, here is a conversation that my sister and I had recently, regarding our mother ‘coming out’ to her family about me, as well as being pregnant.

b: Did she tell you she told grandpa?

r: No.  I don’t know to whom she has said what to.

b:  Oops.

r: No, I don’t mind.  I don’t care who she tells.

b: No, it’s not like that, it’s just that maybe she wants to tell you.

r: Well, you started it, so dish.

b: Ok, well, it went like this:

madre: Que paso?  Guess what?  Rachel’s pregnant!

abuelo: How did that happen?

madre: Rachel & Jen did IVF.

abuelo: Did they know the guy or que?

madre: It’s a donor.

abuelo: From where?

madre: Florida.

r: What I told her was that I didn’t know where he was from, but that he donated to a bank located in GEORGIA.

b: Well, that’s the summary of what mom told us.

r: That’s mom, isn’t it? 

b: No.  Saying “Becky & Jen did IVF.”  THAT would be more like mom.