Sarah sighed as she leaned back upon the divan. Moving was always a chore that she tackled with loathing, but this time it was much worse. Before, there had been the knowledge that the task would end in a new house shared with her husband Ken, as he was transferred from one station to the next. Now all she had to look forward to was the loss of all her cherished possessions gathered from all over the world. The beautiful bedroom set that her and Ken had found in Ireland would go to her oldest daughter. The dinning table from England to her youngest, while her son took the fine living room furniture that Ken and she had picked out in Germany, 

They had spent a whole year looking for just the right style and pieces to make their home the way that they had envisioned. 

All these things had been lovingly packed, and towed from one end of the world to the other, and then back again. She was proud to be leaving such nice things to her children, but she had thought that it would be done after she had passed on, not before. But age having crept up on her was taking its toll. She was being sent to the nursing home, well sent wasn’t quite the right word, for she refused to move in with her kids, but nevertheless, she was still going and all her beloved furniture couldn’t join her. 

"Grammie, look what I found." Little Ken ran into the room carrying a box covered with paper flowers that had been cut from magazines and pasted on to cover it with bright colors, now faded dull. "Where did you find that you little scamp," Sarah laughed. "In the closet" He replied as he squirmed up onto the divan next to her. "Way up high. I was helpin mommy."" And a big help you was too I bet." She told him.  

"What’s this?" He asked as he opened the box and pulled out a fish- net stocking. Sarah laughed again. "That’s an old time pantyhose," she told him. 

Ken stuck his fingers through the holes of the stocking. "You used to wear this?" He asked. 

"No." Sarah replied. "Your grandpa wore it." "Men don’t wear pantyhose," Ken said. 

"Here let me show you" Sarah said taking the box off his lap. She rummaged around until she found a picture. "Here you go." She showed him a picture of three men dressed up as burlesque dancers." He’s the one in the middle." Ken stared at the picture, a funny look on his face." Why are they dressed like girls?" He asked. "They was doing a show for the hurt men in the veterans hospital." She answered. "That’s how I met your Grandpa, I was a nurse there."  
"What kinda show? Like TV?" He asked. "More like when we went to the school and watched your sister in the play," she answered. 

Together they looked through the box for other photo’s and at Grandpa’s medals. Sarah telling stories about Grandpa and all the places they had traveled together. "Why did you go so many places?" Ken asked. "Because your grandpa was a soldier and we had to go wherever the army told us to go." She answered. " But we always had each other." Sarah said. Finally they reached the bottom of the box. Ken pulled out a valentine card from which an old brown pressed flower fell. "What’s this?" The boy asked. Picking the flower up from his lap. Sarah took it from him, eyes glistening with tears. "That’s my bridal bouquet." She whispered. "Given to me on the night that Grandpa and I eloped. It’s the first flower of many that he gave me." 

"Momma it’s time to go, the moving van is ready." Elizabeth said as she walked into the room. "Ok, just give me a minute." Sarah replied as she replaced the things into the box. 

‘I’m ready." She said, tucking the box to her breast. A soldiers wife always has to be prepared she thought to herself, besides I have what’s important in this box, my memories, and my heart. 

I tell this story because it’s true and some people, mainly my husband, thought that it was highly hilarious, but I thought otherwise at the time. 
Now that I look back upon the incident it might be slightly amusing, but not really.  

One morning after sending the children off to school and getting my shower taken care of, I went to my mother in laws to put in my day, arriving early so that my husband could get to work on time for a change. When I got there, the home health care nurse had already arrived and had parked behind my husband, blocking his exit from the driveway. Not wanting to be late for work yet again, he asked if he could drive my car and since we didn’t have a doctors appointment that day I said sure, I would just run out and exchange vehicles later on in the day, when I would need it to taxi the kids around. So he gave me a quick kiss and headed out the door and I went on about the usual morning routine of fixing breakfast and giving his mom her morning medicine, which usually takes a couple of hours because she doesn’t really want the stuff and makes every delaying action that she can come up with, but having gotten that done. I started on doing the dishes and whatever else needed doing. You know...the usual humdrum of everyone’s’ day. 

Well I was in the bathroom putting on a load of laundry when it happened. The phone rang. Now this doesn’t happen very often during the morning hours since my kids are the usual ones to call and they were in school, but I just thought that maybe one of the kids had forgotten something that they had meant to take to school. Picking up the phone and saying hello I was surprised to hear my husband. "Well hi!" I said, "What did you forget?" "Uh! nothing." He replied. 

‘I uh, just wanted to let you know that I got a deer this morning." Now I do have to say, suspicion flooded my mind. I knew that it was deer season and all, but I also knew that there was no way that the man would have had the time to go hunting. I also knew that, no matter how much he had been wanting to go, and he had been, that there was no way that he would have taken off from work to do so. "Oookay." I said, real drawn out like. "Just how did you get this deer?" I asked. "With a black powder rifle." He replied. Now I knew this couldn’t be so. He had sold his black powder gun last year. "I don’t think so." I said. 

By this time I had worked my way back into the living room so that I wouldn’t be trying to hear over the noise of the washer, and his mom was sitting there giving me the eye, trying to figure out who I was talking to. "Now Riley!" I said. Stating his name so that she would know who it was and go back to working her puzzle book. "Just how did you get a deer?" "Uh. Uhum." 

He hem and hawed around for a minute. "I kinda got it on the way to work." He told me. 

Oh no! My mind shrieked. "My car!" I said out loud. Instant panic hit me. "It’s not hurt to bad." He quickly told me. By this time I was holding back tears and trying to hide the fact from his mom. I rushed into the kitchen and leaned against the cabinets where she couldn’t see me. "What is it?" She called after me. I ignored her and tried to calm myself. "Did you total my car?" I whispered as I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. He didn’t say anything. "Is it at least drivable?" I asked. 

"I wouldn’t let the highway patrol see you," he said. By this time I was crying for real and trying to hide it. I had worked so hard to pay for that car and their wasn’t anyway to replace it. How was I going to get his mom to her treatments? There wasn’t any way that I could haul her to Ardmore everyday in that four-wheeled tank that he drives. "You’ll just have to come see it for yourself." He tells me. "What’s wrong?" His mom calls out. "Nothing" I holler back. 

At this time he realizes that I’m crying and asks me if I am. "What do you think?" 

I replied. "Heeey." He tries to sooth me and I can hear the laughter that he’s barely holding back. 

"It’s not funny." "What am I suppose to do now?" I said in a whisper. Then he starts to laugh, but at least I can tell that he’s trying not to. "Your cars just fine." He tells me. Of course I don’t believe him, even after he tells me that an old school buddy had stopped him on the side of the road on the way to work and asked him if he wanted the deer that he had shot that morning. 

We hung up and his mom was told what had happened, of course she thought it was funny also. But I worried about my car all day until I was able to go get it that afternoon. Now I must say that I am a pretty easy going person, and being the sweet forgiving type, I’ll just have to bide my time until revenge can be extracted in a suitable manner.