Recently, I spent the afternoon with my mother and watched her prepare a fruit salad. There's nothing extraordinary about that; just two grown adult women enjoying conversation and each other's company. That is--until the child in me begins peppering my mother with one question after another. At times I find myself forgetting that I have reached middle-aged and I am still the baby in the family curled up beside my mom as she read from her latest Harlequin novel.
I watched my mother cut and slice the different fruits and didn't comment until she was slicing the strawberries. Mom sliced her berries down and not across. "Why do you cut your strawberries that way?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said, "I guess it's so someone doesn't end up with an end piece."
How thoughtful.
"You know, it's all in the details," she continued. "A simple step now can make a big difference later."
I couldn't disagree with that.
Later in the day, after I had accompanied mom to her Travel Club meeting where we enjoyed a delicious pot luck dinner and were helping in the cleanup mom motioned me over to the dessert table. "Look here," she said. "See what I mean about the details?"
Not surprisingly, (Aren't moms always right?) on the table in front of me were two bowls that had once contained fruit salad. One bowl, my mother's dish, was completely empty except for one tiny slice of banana that had turned a mushy brown. The other bowl contained pieces, yes, the end pieces of about half a dozen or more strawberries. "You're right!" I said in agreement.
"Waste not, want not," mom said. "It's the same thing with a loaf of bread. Haven't you ever wondered why I always ate the heels? It's because I knew you kids didn't like them. Never made sense to me; bread is bread no matter how you slice it."
A few weeks later, I watched mom make herself a sandwich and was surprised to see her remove the crusts from two slices of bread. Catching my surprised look, mom said, "I'm out of cat food and it's too late to go to the store, that way the cats don't go hungry. Besides, I don't like the crusts anyway."
I guess it is all in the details, even when it comes to heels, crusts and end pieces.
I watched my mother cut and slice the different fruits and didn't comment until she was slicing the strawberries. Mom sliced her berries down and not across. "Why do you cut your strawberries that way?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said, "I guess it's so someone doesn't end up with an end piece."
How thoughtful.
"You know, it's all in the details," she continued. "A simple step now can make a big difference later."
I couldn't disagree with that.
Later in the day, after I had accompanied mom to her Travel Club meeting where we enjoyed a delicious pot luck dinner and were helping in the cleanup mom motioned me over to the dessert table. "Look here," she said. "See what I mean about the details?"
Not surprisingly, (Aren't moms always right?) on the table in front of me were two bowls that had once contained fruit salad. One bowl, my mother's dish, was completely empty except for one tiny slice of banana that had turned a mushy brown. The other bowl contained pieces, yes, the end pieces of about half a dozen or more strawberries. "You're right!" I said in agreement.
"Waste not, want not," mom said. "It's the same thing with a loaf of bread. Haven't you ever wondered why I always ate the heels? It's because I knew you kids didn't like them. Never made sense to me; bread is bread no matter how you slice it."
A few weeks later, I watched mom make herself a sandwich and was surprised to see her remove the crusts from two slices of bread. Catching my surprised look, mom said, "I'm out of cat food and it's too late to go to the store, that way the cats don't go hungry. Besides, I don't like the crusts anyway."
I guess it is all in the details, even when it comes to heels, crusts and end pieces.
Comments
Congratulations on the "real you" blog. We both learned something at the EBWW.