The Stress Sanctuaries of Big Daddy's Blue Bug

I was my Big Daddy's Blue Bug and he was the center of my world during my first four years of life. He gifted me with coping mechanisms that help me to handle life's stresses. 0:00 Good evening and welcome to my humble podcast abode. I am Cocoa Griot, just a 50 something who cherishes talking about life, love, and a plethora of other topics. A few months back I sat down to read my email, and one message stood out from the rest of the normal junk mail that litters my inbox. The message was from the website, Find A Grave, and it was an alert that someone had honored my picture request. Now I don't know what kind of person takes out the time to walk around cemeteries and take pictures, but boy, am I grateful to this person beyond measure. I hesitated for a moment to open the email and look at the photo. Once I've opened it, I could not stop looking at the grave marker. I kept thinking about how inadequate that space was to describe the man I knew as Big Daddy. Aww... Elbert Leon Lewis was born in the late 1890s, and he was my mother's grandfather. For the first four years of my life, he was truly the center of my world. Every day before my parents went to work, they marched us across the street to Big Daddy's house. I could not get there fast enough, because he always greeted me with tender forehead kisses and a squeeze of my oversized cheeks.  1:31 Big Daddy was the only person allowed to call me Blue Bug, according to my rules. He made up the nickname, so he had the sole privilege of using the nickname. My first sanctuary was just being in Big Daddies presence. I didn't fret when my parents went to work, because I knew a day of adventure was a store for my siblings and me. Amazingly, over 50 years have passed since I last saw Big Daddy. I am not sad when I think of him though, the opposite is true. I get transported to a time of pure joy in my life when I think about him, and my memories. The activities he enjoyed were simple, and they bring me joy today as well. He gifted me with ways to cope when t