I Made Dinner

Cory, Jake, and I had meant to design our own t-shirts with sayings on them.  Each of us had thought of an inside joke from within our family.


Jake would have been five or maybe six at that time.  He was very interested in Groundhog's Day, and talked a blue streak in the car after school one day.  Once he'd run out of steam, there was a long silence.  Maybe we were all tired.  At any rate, Jake piped up about ten minutes later out of the blue, "Let's talk some more about groundhogs!" which struck us all as deliciously funny due to the delayed reaction, and the sheer enthusiasm of his voice.  From that moment on, Jake's catchphrase was used widely in the household whenever there was a lull in conversation.


I have always been the queen of my household.  Once I discovered how to cook meals more delicious than what we could buy on the outside, I began to lord my talents over my subjects.  After working all day, I'd come home and whip up something sinfully delicious, and then refuse to lift a finger for the rest of the evening.  It was a status,,,a rebuttal...an invoked right.  If I needed a bottled water, I would point down at my chest, referring to the imaginary saying emblazoned across whatever shirt I happened to be wearing.   "Cory, love, can you get Mommy a bottled water?"  If she said no, I'd shake my head, "Uh, uh, uh, read it and weep.  I made dinner."  The same went for answering the telephone, letting the dog in from outside, and handing me a blanket or pillow.  The only things I really had to do for myself after serving the evening meal were urinate and brush my teeth.  Everything else was covered.


And Cory, my delightfully funny tongue-in-cheek girl came up with this gem:  "Blame it on the ECT".  We had been worried sick about the possibility of memory loss with her electroshock treatments only to find she didn't lose any long-term memories at all.  That child could still tell me the most hilarious stories from second grade that even I couldn't remember.  "If I DO ever forget anything, t's the best excuse EVER, Mom!  No matter what, I can just shrug and point to the shirt.  Who can argue with that?"


My goofy girl, I miss you so.  We never did get those t-shirts made.  But I'm still thinking about them.