Page 21 of Wish You Faith

“Rosie!” Mom pointed to a vacant seat near her slow cooker.

Rosie went straight to Mom and hugged her. “I love you so much, Mom.”

“I love you too, sweetie. Now go wash your hands before you eat.”

Rosie already had in the restroom down the hallway, but she went to the kitchen sink anyway. Evan squirted soap on her open palms, and they washed their hands side by side at the stainless steel kitchen sink.

Evan was wise enough not to ask her why she’d been crying. Rosie didn’t want to talk about it in front of Mom. They each got a bowl of hot chili, with extra shredded cheese for Evan and no cheese for Rosie.

“Why don’t I go home with you this afternoon?” Rosie asked Mom. “I can take the afternoon off.”

“Are you slacking off work?” Mom scolded her.

“No, ma’am. She’s the hardest worker among us all.” Lorenzo stepped into the break room.

Turning to Evan, who had sat down across the table, Rosie said, “Mom thinks that if I take time off, she’d have to spend time with me and she can’t watch her regular TV shows.”

“Oh, we’ll bore each other to bits, and then she’ll have bad memories of me after I’m gone.” Mom laughed.

“Can you believe that logic?” Rosie sighed, then bowed her head to pray blessings for her food. She also prayed that God would extend Mom’s life, if at all possible. But she ended that request with, “Thy will be done, Lord.”

When she looked up, Evan was still praying with his head bowed.

Rosie stared at his wavy hair for a while, then saw Mom’s sly smile.

“I’m going to take a nap in my special hammock.” Mom winked as she waltzed out of the break room.

Mom had clearly lost some weight, but otherwise, she was still mobile without having to use a cane or a walker. The cancer was in her breast, so it wasn’t visible to the general public.

Discovering the Stage 4 cancer late had been an eyeopener, but Mom’s refusal to go back to the hospital any longer except for outpatient checkups made Rosie upset. What if the cancer returned in the worst possible way? Mom told her to trust God. What about medical advances? Mom wouldn’t budge.

Stubborn Mom had made her final decision, and there was nothing Rosie could do about it.

When Rosie turned back to her bowl of chili, she noticed that Evan was grinning ear to ear.

“What?” she asked.

“Your mom winked at me.”

“She did not.” Rosie’s jaw dropped.

“She did too.”

“When?” Rosie was embarrassed on her mother’s behalf.

“After we washed our hands and sat down. She was standing beside you and looking right at me.”

“Oh.”

“No worries. She’s cute.”

“My mom? Cute?” Rosie chuckled. “I guess you’ve never seen her competitive side.”

“She’s tiny. Looks harmless. How tall is she?”

“Five feet flat. She used to wear platform heels, even at the library, but not anymore.”

“Library?”

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