Conversation with My Wife (224)

Someone left the cake out in the rain? Who does that?

“Once upon a time, there were these sad succulents that felt ignored every Christmas, so they turned into shades of red and green so that everyone would love them…” We make up stories, it’s what we do. (photo by author)

DEB: Oh, they’re cleaning out the house!

We’re passing by a house on our way home. There are POD™ storage units in front and a general mess around an industrial-grade dumpster in the driveway.

DEB: A few weeks ago there were party balloons on the mailbox. It looked like someone had just turned one hundred. Now they’ve passed, and the family has to clear out the house. They have to figure out what to keep, to pass along to the next generation, and what needs to be thrown away, and what stories to tell as they go that are important memories but they can’t take forever to get all this done.

ME: We just need visual prompts and we’re off on a new story! Gail Boenning would be so proud!

DEB: We’re like that, Jackster. Our families are like that. Oral traditions are important to us. We tell stories from our grandparents, maybe ones that they got from their grandparents. Like stories my Grandpa Rearick would tell, except he died when I was still very little so actually I heard them from Mom. Or things Grandma Rearick would say, that I still say, like, “You can go out in the rain—”

ME: “You’re not going to melt!” Yeah, we got those in my family too. Although, when I first heard it, as a little kid I thought they were talking about The Wizard of Oz. So I had the Wicked Witch of the West in my mind—

DEB: Although, now that we’ve seen Wicked, we know that that was actually just a scandalous lie told about Elphaba that she later used to her advantage, with help from the Scarecrow.

ME: …

DEB: Go on.

ME: Yes, anyway, it wasn’t until later I heard the full thing, “You can go out in the rain, you aren’t made of sugar, you aren’t going to melt!” And as a kid I’m thinking, “Wait, somebody took sugar out into the rain? On purpose? That’s just… not right! And they let these people vote and drive? Really?” The world was very confusing, sometimes, when I was a kid.

DEB: Poor honey! Better now?

ME: Ummmm…

DEB: (pats my hand) It’s okay, Jackster, we look out for each other.

Good thing we do…

Copyright ©2022 by Jack Herlocker. All rights reserved, including the option to tell scandalous stories about you to your grandchildren.

Conversations with My Wife (collection)