Page 90 - Senior Link Magazine Spring 2018 - Online Magazine

HONORING SENIORS
Christmas
Came
Late
t was January, the last of
January actually, when I
Idashed into the Lubbock
K-Mart. My solitary purpose
was to pick up some hairspray.
West Texas is wonderful, wild
and windy . . . and hairspray is
part of my survival kit.
I am not a shopper. I don’t push
the cart up and down the aisles,
feel the texture of the fabrics.
I make a list and carry a pen.
When the items are marked off,
I head for the checkout counter.
Often, I bypass the shopping
cart altogether. The few items I
purchase can easily be managed
without it. I can even can go
to Walmart and buy one item.
How weird is that? The cashier
is sometimes shocked. “Is that
all you need today? That’s it?”
they ask in disbelief. Maybe it’s
90 Lubbock Senior Link
90
Lubbock Senior Link
HONORING SENIORS
the philosophy from childhood:
use it up, wear it out, make it
do or do without. Maybe it’s
my daddy’s Scottish bloodline.
Who can say?
I paid for my purchase and ran
my fingers through the handles
of the plastic bag and headed for
the door. My steps were rapid
as I turned toward the exit. I
was a woman on a mission, and
nothing could stop me now. I
took pride in how little time I
had spent doing retail shopping.
As I cleared the automatic
doors, the scene before me
slowed my steps.
A man and his young daughter
were walking out ahead of me.
His shoulders were slumped,
and his steps were slow. My
by Jody Boudreaux Wilson
quick pace caught up with
them and came alongside
them in minutes. I could not
help noticing how weary he
appeared. But his tired, lined
face wore the hint of a smile.
The little girl was about seven
years old. She had long, blonde
hair. She looked up at him with
love in her eyes. Her ponytail
had long ago shifted on her
head, and little wisps of hair
hung down in her eyes and over
her ears. She carried the largest
K-Mart bag in the store. The
bag was bigger than she was,
but she was grinning her face off
as she bumped it along with her
leg.
Between short, puffing breaths,
she turned her brown eyes up