I suppose I have always been lucky
***
For as long as I can remember,
my mother always set
the table with two sets of identical
salt & pepper shakers.
***
It made little difference
how many were eating,
or the meal that was being served;
even if it was dairy.
My mother set the table with
two sets of identical
salt & pepper shakers.
***
I remember the day
I stayed home from school
due to a high fever.
My dad rolled in the TV set so
I could watch cartoons,
my little sister lent me her favorite comic books,
and my mom brought in a tray
of my favorite foods:
spaghetti o’s and a side of saltine crackers.
As well as,
two sets of identical
salt & pepper shakers.
***
And the seasons passed,
and the years went by
and we all got a little bit older,
and a little bit wiser
and through all the changes
there was one constant,
the one thing that never changed.
And that was
my mother setting the table with two sets
of identical salt & pepper shakers.
***
And though I wondered, I never spoke of it …
***
Until last week,
when I went to visit my mother at
the Home of the Very Age-ed.
She and I sat in her
small room & reminisced about happier times and
family members who had passed.
And then, finally, after an hour, or so,
I finally gathered up the nerve
to ask her the question that had
nagged me for so many years.
***
Why — Why, mom, did you always set the table with two sets of
identical salt & pepper shakers?
***
My mother closed her eyes.
A strange, other-worldyness seemed to
suddenly pour over her entire being.
***
Finally, after a long moment,
she opened her eyes.
***
She spoke just above a whisper
and I leaned in close so as not to miss a word.
***
“One set of the identical
salt & pepper shakers, my son” said my mother,
“was poison!”
*
finis
for j.p.
Per the Trefological calendar, to-day, February the 1st, is officially the beginning of the new year.
So, from all of me to some of you, I want to wish you a happy new y’ar.
Your friend (in life)
the undersigned,
geo. raymond
Happy new y’ar. Great piece.
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Thanks, SH
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Mystery solved.
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Finally. And just before dinner, too.
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Timely!
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Yikes! She just kept hoping, huh?
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Fortunately, I have always been good at not eating poison.
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I really enjoyed this story. It is so inspiring…
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Never give up!
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‘Tis the seasoning to be jolly!
Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la,la!
Happy New Y’ar!
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Hah!
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Really true?
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That is how I mis-remember it anyway.
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😱
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Ha ha! I love this! Thanks, Tref.
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Thanks, SoP!
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Your lucky streak continue, through a happy Feb-onwards, t!
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Thanks, e!
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Guess you may inherit both pairs, one day.
And invite your grandchildren to tea…
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(Cue fore-boding music)
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Love it! A fine work Tref. If it ever makes it to an 80s music concert adaption you should absolutely insist on the bands Salt-N-Pepa and Poison performing.
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Thanks, VTA. I appreciate your kind words.
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Reblogged this on davidbruceblog #2.
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Thanks you my friend.
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With luck like yours, you need to hang out at the casino. I’d say you are a dead ringer to win big. Happy new year!
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I stopped going to the casinos when they removed the hay-penny slots
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Shaker roulette! 😲
Happy new yar to you also, Tref. 😊
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That would have made a fine title! HNY, BHA!
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And…now you know. A perfect reason to live a life unseasoned.
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Amen, SP!
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I wish I had grown up in a gingerbread house – rather jealous of your (mis) memories…
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Thanks, WW!
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Brilliant. You had me suckered in, and the left hook came out of nowhere…
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Nice double twist. Dark with an embedded question-mark
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You have the constitution of a Grizzly bear
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Whoa! I did NOT see that ending coming.
And, a (very) belated Happy New Year!
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Thanks, SS
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