Mama could make hauling trash to the dump fun. She found fun everywhere.
As a volunteer in the hospital’s second-hand shop, she delighted in baiting a compulsive psychiatrist with over-stocked items.
“Isn’t that a bit passive-aggressive?” I asked her when she told me how the man had bought thirty ties in one day.
“Not at all. It’s, win-win: the shop gets rid of merchandise and makes more money for charity….”
When the psychiatrist had a garage sale mama insisted on going. “Just to see, NOT to buy anything!”
Mama would bait us, too, just to test our tolerance/ability to withstand pressure.
There was one particularly horrendous plate with a large daisy on it that she put out for over a year trying to see which child would cave in and accept it. I succumbed.
“Mama, just so you know, I KNOW this is bait but I am taking it anyway.”
She smiled a small smile of triumph. “Ha! Finally! I wore you out!”
I think that is why it was so sad when mama, near the end of her life, said, “I guess I am worn out, that’s all.”
Worn out? You, Mama? Never.
As a volunteer in the hospital’s second-hand shop, she delighted in baiting a compulsive psychiatrist with over-stocked items.
“Isn’t that a bit passive-aggressive?” I asked her when she told me how the man had bought thirty ties in one day.
“Not at all. It’s, win-win: the shop gets rid of merchandise and makes more money for charity….”
When the psychiatrist had a garage sale mama insisted on going. “Just to see, NOT to buy anything!”
Mama would bait us, too, just to test our tolerance/ability to withstand pressure.
There was one particularly horrendous plate with a large daisy on it that she put out for over a year trying to see which child would cave in and accept it. I succumbed.
“Mama, just so you know, I KNOW this is bait but I am taking it anyway.”
She smiled a small smile of triumph. “Ha! Finally! I wore you out!”
I think that is why it was so sad when mama, near the end of her life, said, “I guess I am worn out, that’s all.”
Worn out? You, Mama? Never.
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