Friday, 26 March 2010
The Mother's Day Present
By Nancy Leitz
With Mother's Day coming up on the following Sunday, it was no surprise when our mailman came to the door with a package that was too large for our mailbox. It was a Mother's Day gift from our daughter,Carol, who lives in Chicago and never lets an important holiday or birthday go by without sending a beautiful and carefully chosen gift. This Mother's Day gift was no exception.
As I tore off the brown post office wrappings, I could see the box inside was wrapped in lovely flowered paper with a big violet colored bow. I tried to unwrap the gift without destroying the paper. I have been know to save pretty paper for years and just take it out and look at it every once in a while. I know if I were married to a guy like Archie Bunker, he would call me a dingbat.
So, I unwrapped the gift and found a lovely summer outfit of shorts and matching top. I loved the pattern and I held the top up to myself and declared that it was a perfect fit. Now for the shorts.
I lifted them from the box and they were GIGANTIC! HUGE! Although the label said Lord and Taylor, they looked so large they must have been created by Omar the Tentmaker.
My husband, Roy, and I began to smile, then chuckle, then roar with laughter at the size of these shorts. "What was our Carol thinking sending me these humongous shorts?" I gasped through my gales of merriment.
“I don't know. They would fit an elephant, wouldn't they", he chortled.
When we finally settled down, I took the shorts upstairs to try them on and, heaven help me, THEY WERE A PERFECT FIT!!!!!!!!
[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Instructions for submitting are here.]
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
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OH NO!!! Even though I've "been there" I didn't see that coming. So funny--we have to laugh to keep from crying.
Posted by: Olga | Friday, 26 March 2010 at 06:17 AM
Hi Nancy,
Getting ready to read your story, I already had a smile on my face and then, of course, burst out laughing. “Omar the Tentmaker”….I can’t count how many times I have looked at pants on a store rack and was certain they were much too large. Of course, much to my chagrin, they many times were not regardless of how hard I tried to zip that darn zipper up all the way.
As for pretty wrapping paper…I can only try to read my family’s minds as I carefully unwrap and then fold pretty wrapping paper. I do this not to admire at some future date, but to use and reuse. The expression “depression-era mindset” suits me to a T.
Posted by: Claire Jean | Friday, 26 March 2010 at 07:19 AM
Oh Nancy, you are a hoot. I love your stories because I know they will always make me laugh.
I didn't see it coming either and almost fell out of my chair when I read it. Thanks for a morning lift.
Posted by: Darlene | Friday, 26 March 2010 at 07:33 AM
LOL! Nancy
Look at it this way... it would have been much worse if you couldn't get into the shorts!
btw Welcome Home!
Posted by: steph | Monday, 29 March 2010 at 03:29 PM
Nancy, I have been away from home and therefore late in reading your post. I love your sense of fun ans will now giggle my way through the night.
Posted by: Grannymar | Monday, 29 March 2010 at 03:56 PM
You have a gift for capturing the reader! I was so surprised at the ending! Thanks for the laugh!
Posted by: Cile | Tuesday, 30 March 2010 at 08:38 AM
Thanks, Everyone, for your nice comments.
I am late in thanking you all because I was on the road home from Florida when the story appeared.
See you next time..
Nancy
Posted by: Nancy | Tuesday, 30 March 2010 at 01:57 PM
I would never have told my husband they fit "as is." I would have said I pinned them or altered them!
Posted by: Nance | Friday, 02 April 2010 at 07:25 AM