“What’s wrong with all the pumpkins on the front steps?” My husband Steven asked as he walked in the front door.
“What do you mean, ‘What’s wrong with them’?” I asked.
“They look like they’re melting.” He laughed.
“They’re a little misshapen.” I agreed. “But that’s what makes them so beautiful.” I smiled as I walked into the kitchen to start dinner.
“Misshapen is a good word for them.” He called as he hung his coat in the front closet then came into the kitchen. “Didn’t they have any good ones?”
“See? That’s exactly what everyone at the grocery store was thinking as they were digging through the pumpkin bin.” I pulled out a pot and started filling it with water. “Everyone was looking for the perfectly round, unblemished one.” I put the pot on the stove and turned on the burner. “But not me! I like rooting for the underdog.”
“In pumpkins?” Steven said with a laugh as he got a glass out and went to the sink to get some water.
“Exactly!” I said as I went to the refrigerator and pulled out the sauce I’d made from our garden tomatoes. “Everything deserves to be loved.”
“Are we still talking about pumpkins?” Steven leaned against the counter taking a sip from his glass as I poured the sauce into a pot.
“Yes, we’re still talking about pumpkins.” I went back to the refrigerator to pull out the fixings for a salad. “Those pumpkins worked just as hard as the perfect pumpkins to grow into the best they could be when they were out in the field.” I put the lettuce, carrots and celery along with a red pepper on the counter and grabbed a cutting board from the shelf. “They deserve a home where they can be displayed and feel appreciated this season.”
“So we’re going to be the house with the ‘Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree’ pumpkins?”
“Absolutely.” I began cutting up the lettuce. “I think they’re beautiful just the way they are.”
Our son Alex came into the kitchen.
“Did you go to the grocery store with Mom today?” Steven asked him.
“Yeah. I was there.” Alex opened up the refrigerator and looked inside. “I needed to pick up a few things.”
“So you helped pick out those pumpkins?” He asked.
Alex looked over at me as I was slowly shaking my head no.
“What’s going on with you two?” Steven asked.
“Mom didn’t tell you?” Alex closed the refrigerator door.
“Tell me what?”
“Those were the last three pumpkins on the shelf.” Alex looked over at me and laughed. “She said she didn’t feel like stopping at another store to find better ones so she took those.”
Steven looked over at me shaking his head. “That seems more like it.” He said with a laugh as he put his glass on the counter. “You almost had me believing you were rooting for the underdog of pumpkins.”
I gave Alex a stern look. “You know what they say about snitches?” I reminded him.
“That they get ugly pumpkins on their front steps?” Alex laughed.
I shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head. “That’s true, too!”
Slice of Life 