The "The Tale Of Mrs. L" Story

Preface:  On this first day of 2022 I wish you a Happy New Year and hope you will enjoy another year of stories about life with the Woods'.

It was an ordinary day.  We had just finished eating our evening meal in the forum room at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  The meals were referred to as "Pot Luck Suppers" in which all those that attend were supposed to bring a casserole to share with all those in attendance.  As a child, I loved the big selection to chose from, but did have a tough time not taking too much and having to throw away some of the leftovers.  As a parent with three young children, I had to remind my children about putting too much on their plates.  No sense in wasting food as I did 20 years earlier.  The evening was a lot of fun with great times talking with other members of the church about routine things and seeing all the children running around and having a great time.  Some of the casseroles were very impressive as I remember them with many using pasta ingredients to make them look bigger and less expensive.  But, I must tell you that nothing ever went to waste.  One of the church members that always attended, Mrs. L made sure of that.  During the meal Mrs. L would go down the cafeteria line and if finding something that she found interesting, would open her pocketbook and place a spoonful of the item in her pocketbook.  One such time our youngest child, Tad, turned to my wife Carol and softly said, "Mom, that lady put something in her pocketbook." Seems it wasn't just one thing, but some of just about everything would go in the pocketbook, all on top of each other.  And, to top that off, she would bring a small bottle about the size of a softdrink bottle along with her and would dump left-over coffee and tea into the bottle.  It was almost as much fun watching her collect stuff to take home as it was to share Pot Luck Supper together.  I was a friend of Mrs. L's son Eddie and I often wondered what he thought of his mom doing what she did on a weekly basis.  A few years ago I gave Ed a call to see if he would be interested in singing in Lancaster's Flash Mob where we sang Christmas carols at several locations in downtown Lancaster.  Ed and I had been friends when we were young and sang in the choir together.  He took me up on the offer and for the past few years we have sang together in the Flash Mob.  Often wanted to bring up the topic of his mother's habit of gathering items together at the potluck supper to take home, but never had the nerve to do so.  Didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he had to know what his mom was doing when he went home with her from the Pot Luck Suppers.  I suppose what she joined together in her pocketbook may have tasted good the next day, but the leftover coffee and tea both poured together had to taste awful.   But then again, I never tried it!  And...I never will!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.