He Has a Cook!

I sat at the table at my folks’ house one day when Mama made a statement. She said if she “went” before Daddy, it was fine with her if he remarried. However, there was one stipulation: I had to approve. Of course, I didn’t think much more about it – at the time.

After they were involved in an accident, Mama was in the hospital’s trauma unit. They did all they could for her. I went in to see her just before she was taken off the machines that breathed for her. Though there was no response from her, I held her hand, told her I loved her, thanked her for all her years of putting up with us kids and vowed that if Daddy wanted to remarry, he would have to abide by her request and seek my approval.

Daddy didn’t drive again after the accident. That meant I was his main mode of transportation for a time. When we went to the store for groceries, we would go our separate ways. Whoever was done first would sit on the bench inside the entrance of the store and wait for the other. Many times, I finished first because he had to talk to everybody. He always found someone he knew – or rather, they would find him. If I saw him talking to someone I didn’t know, I was never quite sure if he really knew that person or if they were a random stranger.

One day, I walked to the door and there he was sitting on the bench. There were two ladies standing in front of him. Hmmm.. I walked up and the older of the ladies said, “He needs a cook.” I summed up the situation and said, “He has a cook. Come on Daddy. Let’s go!”

Upon questioning him, he said the ladies were a mother/daughter duo. As with most folks, whenever they saw Daddy, especially sitting alone, they said, “Oh, what a cute little man.” When they stopped to chat with him, they felt sorry for him and said, “Oh what a sweet little man.” That’s a recipe for disaster – especially when they are offering their services as a cook. 

I reminded the little man that there was an approval service in effect. When I asked him why he didn’t tell her he didn’t need a cook, he said, “Well, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It was important for her to feel needed.” That lady didn’t make the grade.