air resonated with the muffled sounds of a car backfiring. I hardly

knew either of them, he or Auntie. Daddy said he did it to get away

from her. That may be. Anyway, he left a fortune. A million, Daddy

said, at a time when a new Cadillac could be had for less than four

Today a Caddy is forty grand, Auntie is polluting the soil, my hair is

silver, and I can say with neither boast nor shame, that I have not

known another human critter whom I yet despise. Sitting at this

keyboard, I cannot name another. Surely one exists, I'm not that

angelic, but I can't produce one at the moment. This is not owing to

faulty memory; something much more splendid, and no credit to me.

But Auntie wronged Mom. A wretched soul, she wronged others, too; others

whom I love. Those happenings I've dismissed. But not Mom's.

We were the poor kin, the black sheep, victims of Daddy's wanderlust.

Poverty earns you that status when the others have money. And now an

injury prevented Daddy working, so Mom accepted the role of breadwin

could send the fatted congress and bureaucrats packing, reduce taxes by

roamed the halls of her abode, mindlessly, her existence of no more

secret and grace and humor. One thing I do know, like most moms in

Some common words found in the essay are:
Daddy Mom, That's Mom, Daddy Cadillac, Mom's Mom, , roast pan, Daddy Anyway, grace humor, chipped rusty, porcelain chipped, porcelain chipped rusty,
Approximate Word count = 752
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)