BAKING

He loved baking bread -

kneading, rolling, squeezing,

pushing his body into the dough -

and then to hear at supper,

at table, “More bread!

This is delicious! Thank you!”

And he would make extra loaves

of bread for neighbors for free -

and he would hear thanks from them

when they spotted him 
on the street during the week.

All this was brought out

in the eulogy at his funeral.

And his wife and kids saved

that last loaf - well half a loaf -

which is better than none -

as they say - from his last supper

with them - and then came the

heart attack that last night -

that last supper with him.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

EATING

She liked to eat - but she ate 

too much. She knew that.

She could feel the weight

on her butt - but that

didn’t stop her. She felt the

pressure on her knees. That

didn’t stop her either.

She began spotting articles

about weight loss and eating

smart - but that brought guilt

and comparisons which

made her eat even more.

If she heard it once, she

heard it twenty times: “It’s

not what you eat; it’s

what’s eating you.” And

every time she laughed

at that one - saying,

“It’s what you eat!” 

Then she met someone

and she took off 38 pounds.

Then she had a t-shirt made

with the words, “It’s not what

you eat, but whom you meet!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

       COACHING

He always wanted to be a coach,

even when he was a player ….

Then when he made it, when

he was hired, he began to feel

the tough of it - the decisions -

to cut players - to bench ego’s -

to field the best - realizing this

meant the wrath of parents -

the nasty chanting of fans -

when the team was going

through a slump - yet he hung

in there - with Harry Truman’s

words on his office desk. “If you

can’t stand the heat, get out of

the kitchen.” That helped, but

what really helped was a poem

his wife read to him from Mary Oliver:

FARM COUNTRY*

I have sharpened my knives, I have

Put on the heavy apron.

Maybe you think life is chicken soup, served

In blue willow-pattern bowls.

I have put on my boots and opened

The kitchen door and stepped out

Into the sunshine. I have crossed the lawn

I have entered

The hen house.

* Mary Oliver, New and  Selected Poems
Volume One, Page  211


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

WORKING

She was a working mom

all those years - but didn’t

think she was really working -

just raising kids - taking them

to the park - and then driving,

driving them everywhere.

Some shopping was work;

some shopping was fun.

She liked supermarkets

with a baby in the cart

in front of her - that was

always a conversation starter,

but it became a nuisance

once her boys could walk.

They could be wanderers

in the  supermarket aisles.

Cooking - no problem. She

loved to cool. Cleaning - no.

Then when the kids were

in school - it was second career

time. Surprise she flourished.

She liked being an accountant,

the degree she got and never used.

Well, better say it here in this story,

there are no surprise happenings.

Just life. A husband and a wife -

still talking about when they retire.

In the meanwhile, those tuition

bills and college costs pitter

patter on their radar screen.

Ooops! What about weddings?

Life - for some. Then there is

the Sudan - and Afghanistan.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

THINKING

He was thinking ….

That was her complaint about him.

He was thinking.

He was a quiet guy.

When she’d ask, “A penny for

your thoughts?” he’d just say,

“Oh just thinking. Just thinking.”

That is what bothered her and she

let him know this on a regular basis.

So he thought about this constant

complaint of her’s, He tried to tell

her what was going on at work

- the power struggles going on there -

but she’d jump in and cut him off

and tell him what he ought to do.

Then he’d think about that and

say to himself, “It ain’t worth it.
It ain’t worth it. She really doesn’t

want to think with me.”

Then he’d think about

why he tended to repeat,

repeat, what he was thinking.

Then he laughed. She gets

mad with my doing too much

thinking?  I even get mad

at too much thinking.

Think about that.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

SMILING

He was always smiling…

and laughing as well - and

some people he knew in court

thought this was wrong. Judges

are always supposed to be serious.

You know the old saying,

“As serious as a judge!”

He’d counter - “But sometimes

it’s funny - the things people do.”

And he’d laugh all the way

to beginning of a trial. Then

as he walked into court

he’d put on his serious face.

Then came the horror stories.

And every once and a while,

he make a funny comment.

And he thought it was funny

that people didn’t know that

sometimes there is something

funny even in the midst

of the biggest tragedy.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012

       WALKING AWAY

She simply walked away ….

It was something she saw her dad do too …

simply walk away. Not a big deal….

When things get testy, just walk away.

Her mom would be criticizing her dad ….

When it became too much, he just 

walked away. So when her mom started

on her … she too simply  - walked away.

Their dog, now alone, seeing dad

and daughter gone -  knew it was

his turn to deal with a screaming mom,

so he started scratching the tile floor and

and then the back door - till she opened it

and he walked and wandered away.

Finally her mom - the yeller - figured

it out. Nobody was left to yell at.

So that day she took off her apron

and her scowl, opened the front door

and she too simply - walked away.

Surprise that night - all were back home -

including their dog.  Mom apologized for how

she was treating them lately. First time dad

or daughter ever heard that. Then mom

began laughing - first time they saw that too.

She told them that after they left she was

standing there with nobody left to yell at

but herself. Not wanting to hear herself yelling,

so she too walked away. Then three streets

away from herself, she saw how ridiculous

she could be so she walked back home to be

her old self again. And all hugged each other

and laughed. Then dad said with a smile,

“Anybody want to go for a walk…?”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2012