My 15-year-old son came bounding in from school and
found me in bed. "Don't you feel well, Mom?" he asked with
concern. "No, I don't," I said. "Well, don't you worry about
dinner," he reassured me. "I'll carry you down to the stove."
"You will be pleased with me today, mother," said
Dick to his mother, coming home from school. "I saved on fares.
I didn't go to school by bus, I ran all the way after it."
"Well," said his mother laughing, "Next time you should
run after a taxi, you will save much more."
We were gathered together, all ten of us, for our
widowed mother's 80th birthday. The conversation was of early
struggles, walking to work and saving up in clothing clubs,
when my elder sister said, "Of course, we were bound to be
poor because we were such a big family. Mom, why did you have
so many children?"
Mother looked around at us all and said, "Well, where did
you want to me to stop?"
At the age of 16, Edely decided to leave home and join
a theater company. His father was appalled, "A son of mine on the
stage? It's a disgrace!" he wailed. "What if the neighbors find
out?"
"I'll change my name," the comic-to-be volunteered. "
Change your name!" His father screamed. "What if you're a success?
How will the neighbors know it's my son?"
A neighbor told us about a trip he took with his two-and-a-half
-year-old son. It was the first time the father and the boy had
been away by themselves.
The first night they spent in a hotel, the father moved his bed
close to the boy's and when they were both tucked in, he turned
out the light. After a few minutes, a little voice said, "It surely
is dark, isn't it?" "Yes," said the father, "it's pretty dark, but
everything is all right." There was silence for a few more minutes,
and then a small hand reached over and took the father's hand, "I'll
just hold your hand," said the little boy, "in case you get frightened."