Use Your Words

When my daughter asked for help getting two Christmas casseroles out of the oven, I was more than happy to assist. She had the baby strapped to the front of her, after all. I stood in front of the oven for a moment, looking to either side for something to use in handling the hot dishes.

“Use your words, Mom,” Jen said, as she removed two potholders from a hook above the stove and handed them to me.

“Thanks,” I said, grateful for her help, but a bit surprised that she would give her mother the same instruction she might give her two-year-old son.

It was some time later that the word, potholder, came to me, a word I’ve known for well over half a century. On that particular day, though, this sixty-two-year-old couldn’t use her words because, unlike the two-year-old who was learning new words, I was simply trying to remember the ones I’ve forgotten.