Welcome to #WednesdayWords where I share a snippet of a story using yesterday's word from the New York game, WORDLE. Yesterday's WORDLE was SPORT.
“So,
you plan on visiting your dad for Thanksgiving?” Uncle Matt asked as he slid a
couple of fried eggs and a strip of bacon onto a plate and handed it to Letty.
“Yes.”
Letty didn’t like talking about her dad, but it seemed like a small price to
pay for her aunt and uncle’s generosity and hospitality.
Uncle
Matt carried his own breakfast to the table and sat across from Letty. While
her dad was trim and sported a year-round tan—compliments of a tanning
salon—Uncle Matt was almost as round as the tennis balls her dad liked to lob
over nets. “This is a first for you, isn’t it?”
Letty
nodded before she concentrated on seasoning her eggs. A weak autumn sun
streamed through the windows and landed on the gleaming white counters and
stainless-steel appliances. All the shining light made the kitchen feel more
like an interrogation room than a breakfast nook.
“You
know, you have to forgive him.”
“I’m
trying.” Letty glanced up to meet her uncle’s sincere gaze. His eyes looked so
much like her dad’s, it hurt. She reminded herself that Uncle Matt might be her
dad’s brother and therefore possessed similar DNA, but that didn’t mean they
were anything alike. Their moral compasses were as different as their eating
habits.
“They
say that not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other
person to die, but I’m not sure I believe that.” Uncle Matt poked at his eggs
with his fork.
“I’m
not so mad about what he did.” Letty leaned away from the table, no longer
hungry. “I’m more upset that he doesn’t see that what he did was wrong. He
stole millions of dollars from people who can now no longer afford to retire
because of his greed.”
“He
means to pay them back.”
“How?”
“I
don’t think he’s figured that out yet.” Uncle Matt sipped some orange juice.
Letty
blew out a breath of frustration. “Don’t defend him.”
“I’m
not, but I am trying to help you see his point of view.”
Letty
blinked back tears. “I’ll never understand.”
“Addiction
can make us crazy.” Uncle Matt set down his juice and fixed Letty with an
earnest gaze. “We think of addicts sleeping on park benches or begging on
street corners, and while it’s true that addiction can take us there, most
people are addicted to something. It might be food, or work, or, in your dad’s
case, gambling. And it’s a disease. It alters your brain. I don’t mean to
lecture you, but your dad deserves your compassion, not anger.”
“I
don’t know if I can do it,” Letty said in a small voice.
He
pointed his fork at her. “You have to, if not for your dad, then
for yourself.”
Letty
tried to smile, picked up her own fork, and tucked back into her breakfast.
Uncle
Matt continued, “Anger causes the adrenal glands to flood the body with stress
hormones and the brain shunts blood away from the gut. Heart rate, blood
pressure and respiration increase, the body temperature rises and the skin
perspires.” He waved a piece of bacon at her. “You don’t want to be all sweaty,
do you?”
“Don’t
worry about me,” Letty told him. “I have an excellent antiperspirant.”
He
shook his head. “Some of the short and long-term health problems that have been
linked to unmanaged anger include headaches, abdominal pain, insomnia and even
skin problems, such as eczema. Not to mention increased anxiety, depression,
high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.”
“Oh,
you are just a bundle of joy,” Aunt Shari said as she bustled into the room
with a collection of books beneath her arm. She planted a kiss on her husband’s
round, shiny bald head.
“I’m
just giving her fair warning,” Uncle Matt said.
“You’re
such a know-it-all,” Aunt Shari said in a loving voice.
“So
are you, Dr. Ashton.”
“But
I save my lectures for the classroom,” Aunt Shari said before winking at Letty.
“I’m glad you’re here. I’m sure you’ll find your dad very changed.”
“Humbled,
in fact,” Uncle Matt said.
“It’s
nice you’re close,” Letty said.
“He’ll
always be my baby brother,” Uncle Matt said.
He
didn’t say it, but Letty thought she heard the words, just like he’ll always be your dad.
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