I’m sure I’m not alone when I admit I wonder what it would be like to be famous. Don’t get me wrong, I have no desire to have it printed or talked about when I go for a colonoscopy. I do think, for a day at least, it would be fun to be recognized on the street. Continue reading “Being Famous Vicariously”
In this busy world, unless your relatives live in the same town you do, time to visit is often not a priority. It should be. I know, some families don’t get along all that well, but they are still family. My husband’s family has a reunion every summer and groups come from all over the U.S. for dinner on Friday and a picnic and dinner on Saturday. Yes, it’s expensive for those that have to fly and rent hotel rooms, but they share a bond very unlike my own family because they make it happen and stay close.
It’s custom in my house to have my adult children and their families come for Sunday dinner once a month. If we didn’t schedule it in advance it wouldn’t happen. My son works crazy hours so he looks at “Sunday at Mom’s” as his total relaxation day. I love to do all the cooking. We are lucky and only have one month in the year that there are two birthdays, so the person of the month gets to pick the menu. One month I made chicken enchiladas to the response of my grandson, “Who picked that?” I’m sure you can hear the sneer in his voice. Other favorites are steak, marinated chicken, prime rib and lasagna.
Today my husband and I are actually on the road, traveling to Hoboken, NJ, for a family gathering. On our way back we will stop in Binghamton, NY, to visit two of my sisters, one of which is digging me up some ground sedum to bring home. That’s a plant. The other one is buying us lunch. It will be a quick non-stop talking weekend but at the end of it we will be caught up on the family news with lots of stories thrown in that never make it to Facebook or e-mail. When we get home our chairs will feel good, but we’ll have added to the memory banks and hug meters. The cats can feed themselves for a couple of days and I’ll get to see the New York City skyline up close and personal.
I hope you have a nice weekend too. Try to make some time to visit family.
January 11, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about wet ink. It can be artistic, writerly or something completely off-the-wall. Go where the prompt leads. https://carrotranch.com/2018/01/12/january-11-flash-fiction-challenge/
My offering follows:
With great excitement and anticipation I opened my son’s first letter since he had joined the Air Force. I expected personal news and an address. I got the opposite.
“I’m sure you don’t know, Dad told me to never come home again for enlisting without his blessing. I don’t think it’s safe to give you any contact information because he will force you to choose between him and me. I’m sorry.”
My sudden tears wet the ink. I realized any letters would have to be kept secret and I didn’t know if I would ever see my son again.
47 years ago on this date, my mother passed away at home with my father by her side. She had been sick so long we had started praying for what was best for her instead of asking for her to get better. I was in the upstairs bathroom and could hear my father through the open register to the kitchen below when he called the local funeral home director. It was about five in the morning. He said, “Gene, this is George, I hate to ruin your first day of deer season, but I need you to come pick up my wife.” Continue reading “Thinking of Mom”
Nachos have a special place in my husband’s and my history. They were what we ate the day we met. It was the last Wednesday in April, 2001. There were five of us, sitting on a bar patio because it was one of those springtime 80 degree days. Funny part of the experience, we all were eating the jalapenos. Outcome of the event, there have only been a handful of days since then that my husband and I have not at least spoken on the phone, if we weren’t together physically. It was a spicy hot beginning. Continue reading “How We Met”
A repeat from last year………………..
If you are one of the lucky moms that gets to stay home with your kids…..Please….never say you are just a housewife. You may often feel like the maid, but years from now your children will brag about the fact you were home when they got on the school bus and when they got off. And today in school, their class mates will be jealous that their friend’s mom is home and theirs is not. Continue reading “Stay-At-Home-Mom”
Sue Spitulnik 