Counter

I mentioned having a counter story to the boy gone dog story my mother loves to tell. I don't remember anything about her story - I was too young. I do, however, remember a very amusing story that took place some years later with my mother, both of my sisters and I being at a shopping mall somewhere in Southern California. My mother would say she remembers nothing of what I'm about to share here - which makes me think it's selective memory. My mother has never been afraid of someone having a belly laugh at her expense, consequently, neither are any of her grown children.

I may have been around ten when this little incident happened. I remember watching it all unfold and thinking things were about to get interesting. Nobody had easy access to video means of documenting such events in those days. For crying out loud, a treat was spending an evening viewing slides of family pictures on the wall of my grandparents' living room. Yes, we were that old school. Nobody said "Old School" in those days. Forgive me, but I don't remember what was hip then - well, other than things like viewing slides on the wall of a living room with the lights turned off. That seemed hip back then, at the very least it was a treat. My Lord does that ever make me feel every one of my fi......never mind.

So this story, which I rather like - and I swear did indeed happen, had my mother, my sisters and I heading down the middle aisle of a store, Sears comes to mind, but that's really not important. We may have even passed the place where all things child retaining/restraining were kept - I suspect that things like that are kept at various & sundry key locations in all stores - much the way fire extinguishers are placed. You just shouldn't be far from either should the need arise.

 As much as I recall, we were heading down the middle of the store, Lynne - my older sister was probably a bit to the right and in front of my mother. I was a step or two behind them both and Kerrin, my younger sister, was just off to my left. She was little then - remember this, it's important. When I say she was little, I mean she was under four feet tall. I know my height references from this time period because I intended to become a professional basketball player when I grew up - and I constantly monitored my height progress. I even had a bet with Lynne about what point in my life I would reach a height of six feet. The details of that bet are sketchy - but there was no money exchanged.

My mother would regularly assess where her children were in relation to her. Very aware of her surroundings, seeing things out of the corners of her eyes and being mindful of where we all were. Ready to act on anything quickly - you know, like a child needing to be restrained. Kerrin had started to drift a bit off to the left, which, surprisingly, gave way for a woman who appeared to be about 60, heading up to pass my mother on her immediate left. This woman was no taller than my sister Kerrin was. My mother, seeing what she thought from the corner of her eye to be her youngest child, put her arm around the shoulders of this very small adult woman. It didn't take long to realize this was a mistake.

My mother instantly gave an embarrassed apology as this poor woman looked up at her. I can still see this woman's face and still hear my mother saying, "I'm so sorry" - I was too young to comprehend much here - had a I been in my teenage years, I would've razzed my mom about it. Not at ten - I wasn't raised to be anything but respectful of my parents - but the teenage years often disregard the values given up to that point. The whole incident took about 3 seconds to play out. I remember watching it unfold and being very interested as I knew what was about to happen. Three seconds is a fairly long time for this kind of a scene. One and a half seconds is a very long time to have your arm around what you think is your youngest child, but is instead an adult woman who is old enough to be your mother.

I might block something like that from my memory too - then again, I think I might laugh it off. Nothing against the little woman here, it was an honest mistake - my mother didn't mean to offend this woman, I don't mean any offense in sharing the story. There you have it - my story pales in comparison to my mother's favorite story, but I have gotten some laughs with this one.