Kith & Kin

Morning. Turn off the alarm. Remember that I have an 8:30 am doctor’s appointment. Let the dogs out. Shower and get ready. Leave around 8 am because the doctor’s office is in Mauldin. Drive to Mauldin, easily a twenty-minute trip, in typical Monday-morning traffic. Fun. I have been to two different doctors about my feet because I am having some diabetic neuropathy symptoms. One doctor said, Yep, you have neuropathy, and you need to see another doctor to get fitted with proper shoes. The other doctor measured my feet and had me step in a shoebox full of what seemed like floral foam to get an exact measure of each foot. Both appointments were weeks ago. Over the weekend I’ve been thinking about which doctor I’m supposed to see this morning—I know it is the one who ordered my shoes for me, the guy who had me step in floral foam. But I forget which office he is in. I finally conclude to my satisfaction that he is in the one in Mauldin. Hence I am driving to Mauldin this morning. I ...

  I was playing with toys on the threadbare gray carpet in the dining room. Mom was working on supper in the kitchen—one of my favorite meals: waffles! But things didn’t seem to be going well. “Rrrrrr!” I could hear her say. “This stupid thing!” Apparently the waffle iron wasn’t the only thing heating up in the kitchen today. More groans and growls of frustration emanated from the kitchen. I peeked through the doorway to see what the problem was. Just then Mom opened the waffle iron. The top half of the waffle was stuck to the top heating element. The bottom half of the waffle was stuck to the bottom heating element. The middle of the waffle was goopy and dripping. The edges of the waffle were black, crispy, and smoking.   “Grrrrr! This is crazy ! I’ve about had it!” She began scraping the waffle remains off both surfaces with a spatula and flinging them into a wastebasket. For once in my life I didn’t ask any questions, deeming it wiser to go back to playing with ...