How See's Candies Made Me Cry, 16 November 2012

Today is the only day I made an appearance in court this week.  It seemed best to me not to ride the roller coaster of hearing defense witnesses examined and cross-examined, and I really needed to catch up on dishes, laundry, and tickles with the kids (not to mention catching up on naps).

When I gave an outline of the trial in my last post, I rather hopefully stated that closing arguments as to guilt would be given today and that the jury would be able to start deliberations.  As sometimes happens, the defense was allowed to add a last-minute witness who is not available to testify until Tuesday the 20th, so today was a short day of testimony in court.  Hopefully, Tuesday will be the day for closing arguments, and maybe the jury can even come back with a verdict before holiday time at the end of next week ("Thanksgiving," for any readers not familiar with our autumn holiday tradition; it involves much eating).

So other than this morning, today was a fairly regular day.  I did homework with G, ate leftovers for lunch with the kids, and finally got the pile of clean clothes off the living room floor and into dressers.

Jay's dad--who's been in court all week long, bless his heart--needed some grandson therapy and wanted to give us a little break, so he took the boys before dinnnertime to stay at his house overnight.  Jay and I promptly kicked up our heels and went on a hot, steamy date!  Well...we thought about going on a hot, steamy date, but we ended up meeting at a greasy spoon restaurant between running separate errands.  The average age of the restaurant's clientele was about 125 years old, and the decaf coffee tasted like battery acid, but I got pancakes and Jay got buffalo wings and we could still sneak some kisses behind the menu, so it's all good.  (Besides, 125-year-olds are so adorable.)

From there, Jay headed out to guys' night, but I felt restless.  I didn't want to sit at home by myself, but I didn't want to sit and have a conversation with anyone, either.  Then I hit upon the perfect middle ground: the mall!  There I could be surrounded by people but wouldn't have to talk with anyone.  Perfect!

While at the mall, I detoured into a See's Candies store, because sampling a free chocolate seemed highly appropriate for my evening.  (You've forgotten by now that I had pancakes for dinner, right?  Good.)  While the lady uniformed in white and black behind the counter pulled out a maple bon bon for me, I broke out of my introverted mold momentarily and mentioned wistfully that See's always reminds me of my mom.  "Oh, did she used to work here?" the lady asked casually.  "No," I replied, "she just loved this chocolate."  The lady's face softened and she asked, "Is she still with us?"

My friendly smile quivered a little when I said she wasn't.  "Mine isn't either," she revealed gently, and asked if the bon bon was my mom's favorite.  When I said that actually, the milk chocolate-covered cherry was, she snatched up another candy wrapper and said briskly, "Well, I think you need one of those too, then.  You eat it, and you look upward, and you say, 'This is for you, Mama.'  You make that your new tradition.  You eat that cherry candy and say, 'This is for you.'"

Today may be the only day in my life that being handed a bag of chocolate made me cry, and it is very probably the only time that I'll get a hug from a See's Candies employee.  Then again, it may not be, because she told me to come into the store anytime I wanted to eat a candy for my mom, and she'd get it for me.  :-)

Personally, I'd rather go with dark chocolate, but this was Mom's fav.  She had a whole strategy of just the right way to take a bite and slurp out some of the syrup without dripping any of it on herself.

And this is what is so amazing about an unexpected life.  This morning in court I was feet away from a family member who has sided with the evils of the world, and this evening I was embraced by a complete stranger who is seeking out the joys.

I say "a complete stranger," but the See's lady isn't really a stranger at all.  She is a sister in grief--and who knows?  Perhaps the tradition she suggested I make will stick, and I'll continue going back for the cherries...and the hugs.