Bittersweet

Bittersweet

This story was shared by my Uncle Dave on Saturday night. My mom had shared this story with us years ago, but I had forgotten until Dave relived it for us.

                When my grandparents got married and my grandma got pregnant, she stopped working so that she would be home to raise the kids, keep the house clean, make dinner, and help with homework. It was important to her that she remain active in the school to support her children as well as the community. Because of this dedication, she occasionally left Karen (my mom) in charge of her little brothers while she attended a function at school.

                It was during one of these functions when poor, sweet, innocent David became the target of Karen’s practical joking. Like most kids, the three Ballard children were fans of chocolate, and Karen was quite experienced in different types of chocolate since she started baking with her mother at a young age. She was famous for her gingersnaps, and then for some reason, she started leaving a vital ingredient out. Eventually she mastered them again, and this experience came in handy when she had to talk to Becky about an evening of colorful language much later in her life. Nevertheless, she knew chocolate.

                Anyway, on this particular Thursday, Joyce was out, Bob was still at work, and the kids were left to entertain themselves. Karen put on her sweetest-sister-in-the-world look and offered to get a snack ready for David and Roger. Roger, however, was suspicious of Karen’s antics and knew to let David choose his piece of chocolate first. Karen was old enough by this point to know better than to watch David with laughing eyes, so she pretended to be getting something out of the cupboard while watching him from the corner of her eyes.

                The chocolate got closer to his mouth. He was almost drooling because he so desperately wanted some chocolate! Roger waited to see if this was something he wanted to. Finally, it reached David’s mouth and he popped it in with one shot, and he had barely started to chew when Karen started rolling with laughter!

                “Blech!!” David spat it into the trash and started rinsing his tongue under the faucet. “Vha – i – at???”

                With tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks, Karen managed to sputter, “Bittersweet chocolate!!”

                “That’s disgusting!” David said when his tongue was free of the no-sugar-added wants-to-be-a-treat chocolate.

                Roger decided to find his own snack.

                My mom always said to treat others the way you want to be treated, and she also said, “If you can’t take it, don’t dish it.” She really lived by these mottos and loved laughing and having a good time. She could tease with the best of them, and when it came back at her, she took it like a champ.