Lost in the Store

My sister, Terri, has always had boundless amounts of energy. Even though I was an energetic 10-year-old girl when she was born, trying to keep up with her was exhausting. Terri was constantly in motion. She would rock back and forth on the couch when watching Sesame Street or Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood on television.

Shopping with her became a game of hide-and-seek. When she ran through the doors of the store, she took off like a rocket. Our neighbor was not vigilant at keeping track of her when she took her on outings. One day I was driving downtown and my friend Susan said, “Look in the window of Rahall’s Department Store. There is a little girl posing like the mannequins!” It was Terri.

Then there was the time that Granddad, Terri and Mom were shopping at K-Mart in the Beckley Plaza Mall. Granddad held Terri’s hand tightly as she pulled him over to the toy section. He turned to show her a Drowsy Doll and Terri disappeared. When he found her she had climbed onto the clothes rack and was standing on top of the round glass display. He coaxed her down and then they both realized they’d been gone a long time. They began looking for Mom, but couldn’t find her. A sales clerk asked if she could help them find something.

Terri said, “Do you know where everything is in this store?” The sales clerk said, “Yes,” and if she didn’t she could ask someone else. She said, “What in particular are you looking for?” Terri replied, “If you know where everything is, tell me where my mother is!” After stifled laughter from Granddad and the sales clerk, she asked what my mother looked like and what she was wearing. The three of them were reunited.

In the grocery store today I was reaching to pick up a can of olives when a man turned around with a bewildered, lost look on his face. He is a board member where I previously worked. I asked what he was looking for and he said, “Green olives that are pitted.” I told him that he was looking in the black olives and pointed to the shelf with the green ones. Today’s gift was to relieve his stress by finding the pitted ones for him. He wasn’t sure if his wife wanted the ones stuffed with pimentos, so he still had to call and ask her, but at least he wasn’t lost in the store.

In Giving,

Robin