{"id":321,"date":"2008-05-14T21:31:52","date_gmt":"2008-05-15T01:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?p=321"},"modified":"2008-08-02T11:06:44","modified_gmt":"2008-08-02T15:06:44","slug":"promises-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?p=321","title":{"rendered":"Promises, Promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 14, 2008
\nWednesday<\/strong><\/p>\n

One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes.
\n<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 German philosopher<\/p>\n

The comic strip Pickles<\/a> is popular at our house. (The link is to the particular panel to be discussed here.) It chronicles the domestic life of\u00c2\u00a0a retired couple\u00c2\u00a0 who, despite being depicted as far older than Ron and I are (well, the woman is!),\u00c2\u00a0seem to have the same conversations that sometimes take place here. Our refrigerator is nearly covered with the ones I’ve cut out.\u00c2\u00a0 My favorite shows the couple sitting together watching television. The woman says, “Do you have to crack your knuckles like that?” The man replies, “No, I can crack\u00c2\u00a0them like this if you prefer.”<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Mother’s Day, the strip showed a conversation between the woman, Opal, and her grown daughter, Sylvia.<\/p>\n

Opal<\/strong>: Sylvia, guess what I found!
\nSylvia<\/strong>: What is it, Mom?
\nOpal<\/strong>: It’s a coupon book you made for me when you were in fifth grade. See? It’s full of coupons for chores and things you would do for me.
\nSylvia<\/strong>: Oh wow!
\nOpal<\/strong>: This one’s good for helping me with the dishes. This one’s good for a foot massage. Here’s one\u00c2\u00a0 for washing my windows. That’s so sweet of you.
\nSylvia<\/strong>: What? You don’t mean . . .
\nOpal<\/strong> (to Sylvia, who is now applying a squeegee to the window): There were no expiration dates.<\/p>\n

Mother’s Day came and went here exactly the way I wanted it to.\u00c2\u00a0I went to church (Pentecost,\u00c2\u00a0celebrating the creative wind of the Holy Spirit, my\u00c2\u00a0second favorite biblical image, after the woman at the well) and then took flowers to the grave of\u00c2\u00a0Sister Kilian<\/a>, my tenth grade English teacher, a tradition I have maintained for many years.\u00c2\u00a0Then I took a nap, had a delicious dinner (half of my shrimp and asparagus risotto left from Saturday’s graduation celebration at Olive Garden), and did some writing. I received no cards, no gifts,\u00c2\u00a0no flowers, because I didn’t want any, and I had made my wishes known. But I did get phone calls and text messages and hugs<\/a> from Lynn and others from whom a Mother’s Day greeting is important to me. (Lynn once became almost inconsolable because she had the idea that serving me breakfast in bed was an appropriate Mother’s Day gesture and I didn’t want that. That was probably\u00c2\u00a0when she learned to creep up to the breakfast table, peer into my coffee mug, and then, if it were down to a particular level, ask quietly, “Is that your second cup?”)<\/p>\n

This afternoon, however,\u00c2\u00a0while looking for something else, I came upon this:<\/p>\n

\"Lynn's<\/p>\n

Isn’t that adorable? She was eight. I took the book apart so you could see some of the specific drawings and the particular promises.\u00c2\u00a0Like this one:<\/p>\n

\"Clean<\/p>\n

And I couldn’t find any expiration date!! Lynn, if you’re reading, do you see that one in the middle up there? I was in\u00c2\u00a0your room today. Yes, it’s still your room. That’s the first\u00c2\u00a0coupon I’d like to redeem.\u00c2\u00a0 Get to that before you turn 23 and I’ll let you skip the car wash!<\/p>\n

To be included on the notify list, e-mail me:
\nmargaretdeangelis [at] gmail [dot] com (replace the brackets with @ and a period)<\/em><\/p>\n


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