Be Sure Your Grin Will Find You Out (standard:humor, 899 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Dec 09 2018	Views/Reads: 1729/1217	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Once in a while I get a Christmas present to beat all Christmas presents. This year was one of those “once in a while’s.”

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year and I appreciate it so very
much. I recognize I'm difficult to purchase presents for because I have 
my books, my pens, what else do I really need? 

Once in a while I get a Christmas present to beat all Christmas
presents. This year was one of those “once in a while's.” 

It's a pretty well known fact that the Gracious Mistress of the
Parsonage and myself differs when it comes to culinary likes and 
dislikes. How we got along for so many years is truly a miracle, I 
suppose. 

She, for example, loves vegetables, particularly broccoli. (Excuse me, I
need to go and wash out my mouth.) 

On the other side of the table, I love Apple Fritters. (Excuse me, I
need to relish the thought of an apple fritter.) 

Throughout the year, she tries tricking me into eating vegetables. I'll
take so much, but then I draw a line in the sand. That sand sometimes 
gets a little disheveled and I know who is disheveling it. 

I have tried to tell her that a good mother will make Apple Fritters for
her family. She dismisses that and says quite emphatically, “No good 
mother will ever do anything of that nature. A good mother will make 
vegetables for their family.” 

And so the “discussion” goes on and on. 

We were watching the news as they were reporting on the funeral of the
41st President of the United States. Someone was giving some kind of a 
eulogy concerning that president and said something that caught my 
attention. 

According to this eulogy, the 41st President hated broccoli. Let me
repeat that, he hated broccoli, as well as all other vegetables. 

I looked at my wife and said, “I'm in good company.” 

She just dismissed that and went on with her work in the kitchen. I
grinned a lot and relished the moment. I just don't get too many 
moments like that. 

Then, something wonderful happened. Christmas cards were coming from
family members all over the place. I think people send an early 
Christmas card to make sure we will return a Christmas card. I was 
opening the Christmas cards and came to one that made my Christmas the 
delight that it has become. 

Some of my wife's sisters were sending her throughout the year recipes
from their mother in their mother's own handwriting. I didn't take much 
note to that because I'm not allowed in the kitchen to do any cooking. 

Very nonchalantly, I was opening these Christmas cards and then I came
upon “the” Christmas card. I noticed it was from my wife's sister and 
as I opened it, there was a little card inside that made my life a true 
joy. 

The sister was sending in her Christmas card one of their mother's
recipes written in their mother's own hand. You will never guess what 
the recipe was in that card! 

When I opened it up, I could not believe my eyes. My eyes have fooled me
quite a bit down through the years, but this time I had to rub them 
several times in order to believe what I was seeing. 

There in their mother's own handwriting was her recipe for “Apple
Fritters.” I had it in my wife's mother's own handwriting. 

You can hardly imagine my joy. There is no Christmas joy equal to the
joy I felt looking at this recipe. 

Now, how was I going to present this to my wife and get all the benefit
out of it? 



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