Mother/Father and Clown
Mother/Father
When it was time for dessert, Mom announced she was on her latest sugar fast. Dad said since when and she replied starting now. She said some man devouring Starburst in the waiting area at her therapist’s office was the motivation. Dad rolled his eyes, we knew what this meant. Sneaking Marie Callender’s after my soccer matches. Hoarding bite sized snickers in our bedrooms. Sometimes we’d meet in the bathroom in the middle of the night. Got anything left he’d ask? I could usually score a few bucks for a fireball, but when I introduced Twinkies and Ho-hos, the payoff was huge.
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Clown
One year, for my birthday, Mom came up with this insane idea to go with a Mexican theme. We had to dress as our favorite jumping bean, and the main activity centered around an elaborate piñata that took her only minutes to assemble, then tie it to our basement ceiling. We all wondered what was in it- candy? Race cars? Yo-yos? When the first kid, Tommy, took the bat, and whacked it wide open, I turned bright red. All of these sprouts fell out and the entire basement stunk. What are they, Tommy wanted to know. I told him it was a joke, like every other birthday was before this one, too.
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