2nd Pew to the Left

So, while we were driving to church (yes, we were running a smidgent late again), I started thinking about going to my childhood church. I always sat with my Grandmother (Murmur) and she had a favorite pew. I can NEVER remember sitting somewhere other than the 2nd pew to the left. N.E.V.E.R. I think there was one time that a visitor made the mistake of sitting there and we might have moved back a row, and I don't think we ever saw them again.... :) Ask anyone in the family - we sit on the 2nd Pew to the Left.
It was a very touching thing to see that pew empty at her funeral. Well, it was empty to the naked eye, but we all knew she was sitting there writing us notes on the bulletin.
Yes, notes on the church bulletin. I don't know if your church does a printed bulletin - ours still does - but this was back in the days when there weren't video screens and such in the church. Somewhere between the opening hymn and the Lord's Prayer, she would always scribble something on the bulletin for me - usually a question. I'd answer and then possibly ask her a question and so on. [Remember where I said we said on the 2nd pew to the left? Yea - the pastor probably saw all of it. Since Murmur was a founding member of this church, they probably figured it was best to let it slide.] Anyways, back to the bulletin writing. I remember reading her cursive writing on the bulletin - it was so pretty - and answering whatever she had asked me. Usually just "How was your week?" or "You look pretty today." Sometimes (especially in the early teen years) I was embarassed by it, but still wrote back.
I can still see the bulletins in my head - there weren't places to write on it (like lines for notes or anything) so we would write in any of the available space. When it was filled up, we were done. Sadly, we didn't save any of them, but the memory lasts on in my mind.
Well, I've carried on the tradition - actually Bebe started it. I bet an angel whispered in her ear to write to me. Ever since she could write anything, she's been writing to me on the bulletin. Usually it's "Can we get donuts after church?" or "Can we get a cookie at Kroger?" I answer and then we fill up all the available space. Our bulletins are fancy though. They have lines for "Sermon Notes". I figure this is a kind of ministry in it's own. Plus, we don't sit on the 2nd pew to the left in our home church.