He immediately came to his senses and decided what he must do. He must choose one of the heirlooms and
sell it to pay off his debts. “This is what all sensible people do,” he said aloud as the light of the
morning enveloped him. “Selling some precious item from my collection will be a constant reminder that I
must not fall again into debt, that I must change my ways and never again shame my family in this fashion.”
The two men found the banker's wife. They had a box large enough to hold her, and a pickup truck. They had her
climb into the box, then tried to put her into the back of the truck. But, they couldn't lift it. So they had
her climb out, they put the box into the back of the truck, and had her climb up and into the box. And off
they went to find the intersection.
It did get worse. Much worse. Just a little further down the way we encountered a waterfall. We had no
choice but to go through it. Dad pulled our raincoats out of our packs and we covered our headlights to keep
them dry the best we could. We made it through but got completely soaked in the process. Dad’s light went
out and he switched to his electric lamp. Now we were both really cold.
Is it possible for me to love you more than before?
Because my heart skips a beat when you knock on the door.
You said you would love me always and forever,
And to make sure we were always together.
Now I sit on your chair and look at your frame,
the one that is causing me unbearable pain.
The boat continued its wild circle in the ocean and Tony, the captain, popped from the companionway as
though he were on a bungee cord. “What the bloody hell’s going on?” He demanded, eying Chuck an myself
in our menage a deux on the deck behind the wheel.
All of a sudden, she wakes me up, and she's been startled: "I felt something MOVE!" I'm still a
little foggy, but I ask, "What do you mean, like, under the bed or something?" She says, "NO. I felt
wind on my face!" I turn on the the light on my nightstand, and sure enough, there's a bat circling
the room, up by the ceiling. In the back of my mind I'm remembering that it's possible for someone
who sleeps deeply to be bitten by a bat with its razor-sharp teeth, and never feel it. Along with
that goes the wondering about whether it's got rabies or not.
No well-behaved guest went hungry in Grandma’s house, especially seven year-olds. “Are you hungry, mijn
schat (“my dear”)?” she’d ask, taking my hand in her firm Dutch grip and gently propelling me toward her
melt-in-your mouth Boterkoek (Butter Biscuits). Grandma may not have said much verbally, but good food was
her love language before “love language” hit pop culture. She spoke it fluently and well, just like she
tended her garden.
