The Sad Girl and Favorite sister sat reminiscing with Oldest Niece after a Sunday morning swim.

They were discussing the old weekly lawn mowing schedule and laying sod.

They were good, solid, happy memories of a happier time in what feels like another life.

Driving home with the Sad Boy, the Sad Girl still lost in thought, suddenly understood.

She turned to the Sad Boy. “That was it! That was the moment Pretend Father and the Woman with the Rock in Her Shoe knew that the relationship between you and I and Favorite Sister and Favorite Brother-in-Law was too strong and had to be destroyed!”

She explained to the Sad Boy, “We just put down the sod. I received the letter from a distant cousin regarding family history. We read it to both of them on the freshly laid sod. You remember, the letter that said he’s actually Turkish…”

The Bastard Sad Girl had stumbled upon the first of many well kept secrets.

People won’t give you answers but when you say to God, “I’ve lived this, the answers are in my memory if You help me put it together.”

God is always happy to oblige.

************

The Woman with the Rock in her Shoe was very organized and methodical. She had no difficulty in finding a new building to rent in an under construction strip mall about ten minutes on the other side of our rapidly expanding rural town. She began to plan the new store by pricing then purchasing the necessary equipment while lining up vendors and suppliers. She created a menu that focused on her homemade breakfast and lunch specialties.

Favorite Sister, Baby Sister and the Sad Girl wanted no part of this new venture. The Sad Girl was teaching in school, Baby Sister was working at a local pizzeria and Favorite Sister was busy raising her three daughters. The three somehow intuitively knew they were to be the unpaid help. Repeatedly they let the Woman with the Rock in her Shoe understand that maybe they would help out, but not on a full time basis.

The Women with the Rock in her Shoe would get angry when they went to the movies or to the lake instead of helping her plan the deli. Again, they would repeat this was her venture, not theirs.

Sister II told them the food service industry involved many long hours and stamina. Sister II’s telling of the truth annoyed the Woman with the Rock in her Shoe. Her only reply was “All you need is a good manager.” And free help, might be added.

It took about six months of planning and by August 1988 the deli was ready for opening day. Brother II and his wife, along with their newborn daughter, had moved back up north and rented an apartment in the same apartment complex as the Sister Who Shall Not be Named.