Jello

Julie and her sister Glory met in the entrance to their Grandmother's Assisted Living Facility promptly at 1pm on Saturday. It was time for their weekly visit with their favorite maternal grandmother.

Julie noticed that Glory had gotten a new purse since last week. She loved her little sister's sense of style, and wondered if she could find the same purse at Target. (She inherited her grandma's aversion to paying more than $20 for a purse.)

The elevator to the 6th floor felt as rickety and worn down as some of the residents who passed quietly through the halls, clutching walkers and canes and talking quietly to themselves. The sisters shared worried looks. The elevator managed to glide smoothly to a stop on her floor.

"Right on time" exclaimed Benita Torkelson, grandma's next door neighbor, as she stepped out into the hall. She had her cloth shopping bags in hand, and was struggling to find her keys in her gigantic purse. She was a shrewd, spry little woman, and Glory and Julie towered over her. She moved in to her apartment the same day as Grandma, and the two had become fast friends. "Jane just got back from the mall!"

Glory took Benita's purse and quickly located her keys for her and locked her door. She smiled warmly at the small woman, who chuckled softly and snatched her purse back. "Benny, how do you ever find anything in that old carpet bag of yours?"

Benny winked at her and started down the hall. "Magic, my girl. Have a good visit!"

Julie knocked on Grandma's door. She heard a voice, and the sound of a cane and heavy footsteps nearing the door. "Who is it?" a voice queried from behind the lock.

Julie and Glory answered "It's Julie and Glory. Let us in" in unison.

Slowly, they heard the sound of several bolts, chains and locks being opened, and the door cracked open.

Grandma peeked out, and having satisfied herself that her visitors were, in fact, her granddaughters, swung the door wide and welcomed them into her suite.

"I didn't know you were visiting. How long are you going to be in town?," Grandma asked Julie.

Julie and Glory smiled at each other quickly.

"We moved, Grandma. Ben and I live here now."

Grandma was delighted.

She was tall and plump. She only wore polyester pants with creases permanently woven into the fabric, and sweatshirts emblazoned with flowers. She wore Keds, or the knockoffs you could get at the drugstore for under $5, and knee-high nylon socks. Today's ensemble was in varying shades of pink, one of her favorite colors.

She was setting out a new pattern on a piece of fabric on her bed. It was a dress for toddler girls, which she was laying out on a piece of blue gingham. Julie noticed a pile of similar dresses in varying sizes sitting in the corner. She donated them to a missions organization every month. Judging from the size of the stack, it had been a few weeks.

Following their normal routine, Glory commented on the fabrics. "That's going to be darling, Grandma."

Julie grabbed Grandma's pink sweater from her closet.

"I picked it up at the fabric store yesterday. Can you believe how much fabric is these days? Harold would roll over in his grave if he knew I spent more than $3 on a yard of fabric!"

They visited for a few minutes, then convinced grandma that it was time to go to the mall.

Julie's tummy was growling by the time they made it to the parking lot. They decided to start at the Food Court and shop afterwards.

The girls were in the mood for Chinese, and Panda Express was the closest thing to it at the Food Court. (Julie's husband was actually Chinese, and regarded Panda Express with utmost disdain.) They threaded their way through the crowd and placed their orders. Grandma tasted everything in the trays before settling on what she always got...the Orange Chicken. Today, however, she got the egg rolls.

They picked a table and sat down in the quasi-comfortable chairs. They chatted about the weather reminded Grandma that it was Easter, not Christmas coming next month, and Glory attempted to eat with chopsticks, which was highly entertaining to Julie.

Suddenly, Grandma opened the container of Sweet and Sour Sauce provided for her egg rolls. "Is this Jello?"

The girls exchanged panicked looks.

Before they could react, she dipped her fork into the red sauce and put a little on her tongue. Her face scrunched into an expression of complete sourness.

"Ew. That's the worst Jello I've ever tasted!"

Glory caught Julie's eye and quickly turned away.

"That's the dipping sauce for your egg rolls," Julie explained in an oddly strangled voice. "It's not Jello."

"Oh. That was awful. I don't think I'll be putting it on my egg rolls, either."

"You don't have to, Grandma." Glory winked at Julie and they resumed eating.

Grandma asked Julie again how long she was planning to stay in town, and how soon she had to be back. Julie explained again that she had moved and would not be going back to California. With each repeated question, Julie and Glory would smile and patiently answer her.

Grandma opened the container of Sweet and Sour Sauce provided for her egg rolls. "Is this Jello?"

She dipped her fork into the red sauce and put a little on her tongue. Her face scrunched into an expression of complete sourness.

"Ew. That's the worst Jello I've ever tasted!"

"It's not Jello," Glory explained. She put the lid back on the sauce for her, and told her, again, that it was for the egg rolls. Grandma eyed the little container doubtfully and exclaimed she would not be putting that anywhere near her food.

Conversation resumed, and Glory explained that the girls parents had moved to the other side of the State, and she was in college now. Grandma reminisced, again, about both of her granddaughters as babies, toddlers and school girls. The girls smiled through the stories they had heard so many times.

Grandma opened the container of Sweet and Sour Sauce provided for her egg rolls. "Is this Jello?"

She dipped her fork into the red sauce and put a little on her tongue. Her face scrunched into an expression of complete sourness.

"Ew. That's the worst Jello I've ever tasted!"

"It's not Jello."

The three women finished their meal and Glory offered to bus the table. Grandma got out a napkin and wrapped up the last egg roll and put it in her purse. Glory noticed a dinner roll from Dennys peeking out of another napkin, and several containers of jam stuffed into the purse already. Grandma grabbed the Sweet and Sour sauce before either of them could grab the tray and popped it into her purse too.

"I love Jello!"

The girls walked their grandmother around the mall and did some shopping. Soon, it was time to get her back to her apartment for dinner. The facility where she lived served dinner from 4 to 6pm, and Grandma didn't like being late.

The girls rode the rickety elevator back to Grandma's apartment, answering questions about how long they planned to be in town, and where their parents lived now.

Grandma came out of the elevator and dug through her purse for her keys. Benny opened her door and stepped out into the hall.

"Going to dinner, Jane?"

"Yes, Bennie. I'll be out in a minute. I have to put my purchases away. You wouldn't believe what they charge for fabric these days."

Grandma pulled the napkin-wrapped food out of her purse and handed it to Glory. The container of sweet and sour sauce was still intact, and she handed that to Julie as she finally located her keys and opened her door. She took the food from Glory and grabbed her bags. They shuffled into her entryway and dropped the bags. Grandma headed to her refrigerator.

Benny eyed the container in Julie's hand suspiciously. "Don't forget your Jello!"