Zap! Boom!

My mom has an awesome superpower.  She can respond with clever comebacks at the speed of light. Seriously, it’s like a lightning bolt comes out of her mouth.  Zap! Boom!

She’s got you.

One time she had two Zap! Booms! in a row. 

We were at a nice restaurant with some friends. Mom ordered a side of coleslaw.  They served it to her in a scoop on top of a leaf of lettuce and in a small white bowl.

Soon after we started eating, my mom said, “Well…lookie here!”

We all turned to see her pointing to her bowl of coleslaw. Then a collective gasp rose up from our table.

Crawling hard and fast on the edge of mom’s bowl was a little inch worm.

“Isn’t he the little perfect inch worm?”  It almost sounded as if mom was proud of him.

And she was right. He was such a pretty shade of fluorescent mint green that he almost glowed. And he was rather plump and juicy.

People sitting around us turned to look. Soon the whispers spread out across the room in a ripple effect; like the waves from dropping a pebble into a puddle or pond.

“That lady has a worm on her bowl.”

“Check your plate.”

“Don’t eat the coleslaw.”

My mom called the waiter over and pointed to her green guest again. “Are you all going to charge me extra for this little guy?”  Zap! Boom!  Number 1.

The waiter was speechless for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, he asked, “Where did that come from?”

Immediately my mom replied, “I brought him from home.  He’s my comfort animal.”  Zap! Boom! Number 2.

But she didn’t stop there. “He’s in the HABITAT program. Humans Animals Bonding in Tennessee. I tried to tie his HABITAT scarf on him, but it kept falling off.”

My mom’s superpower comes from her attitude. She looks at things with humor and that relaxes her mind; freeing it up. When you are stressed and upset, it’s hard to think or even function.

Think of stress as kryptonite that drains you so much that you can’t access your own superpower.

They brought my mother another bowl of coleslaw. After she took a couple of bites, I asked, “Mom, aren’t you afraid of finding another worm?”

“Naahh.” She waved her hand. “I think the inch worm came from the lettuce because they didn’t wash it enough. They won’t let that happen again.”

Then she stopped eating and laid her fork down. “You know, there could’ve been another inch worm down in the coleslaw and I could’ve eaten it and not known.”

I replied, “Maybe that’s why the inch worm was crawling so fast. It was trying to get away so you wouldn’t eat it too.” Zap! Boom! for me.

“A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)