Musings from a reconstructed liberal clergyperson of the United Methodist/United Church of Christ persuasion
Saturday, September 14, 2019
My Mother's Secret
Shared with Trembling Love
A swift hit of nicotine hidden
in a small can unlabeled snuff
may be Garret Sweet
Unrevealed to curious eyes in a
coin purse tucked
in her handbag
Kept her secret
and nobody knew
nobody
I tell it now fearful of her chastising
from beyond the chasm
I honor her memory but
cannot resist the primordial
urge to tell story
Between a chuckle and
a tear I tell what I
know is true
Remnant bit of nicotine
potent still perhaps
Transparent love for her
children always
Mother was scrupulously clean and morally straitlaced yet tender and gracious in the moments that counted and she was guided by gentle humor. Although quite vocal about her politics with which I almost always totally disagreed, she was a very private person. She would not have found it funny to learn that I knew and shared news about her surreptitious use of snuff, a minor moral indiscretion, if you will. But this is such a good story that I had to tell it. I will pray for forgiveness if I have to.
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Curious as to where/how she would get her supply of snuff and snuff paraphernalia, considering the lack of transportation and anonymity in her day. No Amazon back then to help her, I assume she had to work hard at acquiring her wares?
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