CHOCOLATE

FUNNY WHAT MEMORIES remain in your head. It's been forever since a friendly customer told me that when his friend was suffering something traumatic, he loaded up a basket with candy bars, popcorn, sodas, cookies and took her for a ride. They parked by a lake and talked and ate and listened and talked some more. That struck me as such a caring thing to do and while I've never found the opportunity to employ the method, it's there in my head if the need should arise.


Something akin to that happened this morning.  Chris bid us adieu.

How quickly time passes. He arrived last Saturday and so soon the time came to part.

Susan came back from taking Chris to the train station where he was to board a bus to Bakersfield from where a train would return him home. She was carrying a sizable box from the mail room. Inside the package was a veritable wealth of chocolate. Chocolate cookies, chocolate kisses, chocolate truffles and something new to me, chocolate kettle corn. Accompanied by the perfect greeting card, this assortment brought a smile to Mr. Bob's face and I actually swooned.

To appreciate the card you need to know that Owen is very much into Star Wars these days, as evidenced by the Halloween costumes their family made. (Much as we love to shop, in our family, we think Halloween costumes should be made. Chris' boots consisted of three layers of duct tape and were a challenge to remove.) 

Inside the chocolatey card, Owen had drawn a picture and dictated a letter to Frances:

Dear Granny,

I hope you feel better soon. I wrote a funny Star Wars joke book. When you feel better you should come over to see the book. There are no pictures or stories about heffalumps in Star Wars. There is no Play-Doh in Star Wars.

I love you, Granny.

             

                        Love,

                              Owen

"After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate."
                                                                                                       Mel Gibson