JUST ONE MORE TIME

Yesterday I went to the grocery store, now, normally you would think that people do that every day of the week. And, you're right. Now, I had quite a few things on my list, I needed stuff to make chili, and brownies for Saturday. And numerous other things. We're going to Irvington, Va. to celebrate my brother Tom's birthday. And since we're all getting a little older as we speak, I was trying to find things that were as healthy as possible. You know, lean ground beef, brownies that didn't have umpteen thousand calories and fat way off the chart. So, I had to read labels.

Of course, I can't read those labels without my glasses. So as I dig around for those treasured glasses, I remembered a grocery trip long, long ago. I took Mom to the store. Now, I can't exactly remember why we needed to go together, just that we did. Well, low and behold, she had one of those lists that had a little bit of everything on it.

We each had our own cart, and I was a young mother with a limited amount of time and money. I was flying up and down the aisles, grabbing stuff that looked familiar, because, after all, I bought the same thing every week. Macaroni and cheese, hamburger, hotdogs, eggs, milk, you get the picture.

Well, Mom was a little more selective, her meals were tiny compared to mine. A half pound of hamburger, those little cans of corn, coffee and maybe on a good week, white powdered donuts. And, I was so frustrated. What was taking her so long? How many minutes could you look at the same can of coffee? . Didn't she buy the same can last month? Yes, the bread was fresh. I used to roll my eyes, but she'd continue to stroll up and down each aisle, sometimes not putting one thing in her basket at all. Gosh, I wish she'd hurry up! After putting my glasses on, I picked up the box of brownie mix, read the label, and continued to scan the aisle for one with less fat and calories on to the next aisle. No, I don't think I need anything from this one, better check though. Never know what might be down here.

As I finished with the last aisle, on my way to the checkout, I stopped to get the bread. Yes, it seemed fresh. Better take that extra minute to check the freshness date, just to be sure. It wasn't until many years later that I realized that it wasn't the labels it was the price. Times were not easy then and she had to spend wisely to make it until the next time payday rolled around.

My mom is gone now. I'd give anything if she would just call me and ask me to go to the store with her one more time. We could stroll up and down each aisle, even if we didn't put one thing in our baskets. After all, I am my mothers' daughter.

Lyn