Lobster Means "I Love You"

Photo by wader
I told my mother I wasn’t hungry—simple words and yet, they hold such magnitude coming from someone like me. I hardly ever have a problem with my appetite. Just as onlookers have watched great masters at their craft on television—from ballroom dancers to basketball players—friends and family have watched me eat. I’ve devoured whole pizzas, polished off ice cream by the carton, and cleaned plates of pasta made for two. For most of my life, I have been a master at voracity.

When my mom realized I wasn't eating she knew that something was seriously wrong. Immediately, she tried to address the problem. She offered favorite foods and attempted to color my imagination with all things dreamed from the grocery store. When I didn’t respond, she took her knowledge of her daughter and went to market with it.

I came home to the result of her efforts: an overstocked fridge with items loved by me, and a large pot on the stove, brimming with lobster. Apparently, even in these hard economic times, nothing can stop a mother’s determination to fix a troubled, withering daughter. Her mission was accomplished, the smells of the kitchen drawing me back to the piece of myself I’d lost when Chris left.

I told my mother I wasn’t hungry. In return, she told me that she loves me.