The Great Edamame War of 2010

Edamame in flight. There is an edamame in the air between Jeffrey & Mom

It started out as a nice quiet dinner of spaghetti tacos and edamame. As Jeffrey tried to pick up an edamame on his fork, it launched into the air towards Papa. To which Jeffrey laughed hysterically and Papa said “If you really want to get some height on that, you have to do it this way.” And he put an edamame on the handle of a fork and told Jeffrey to hit the top of the fork. Jeffrey hit the fork and sent the edamame flying across the table.

And that is how the Great Edamame War of 2010 started.

Jeffrey was launching edamame into the air aiming at targets, such as Papa and the water glass. We were all laughing and Jeffrey was cracking up so hard that he couldn’t breathe. We had edamame on the floor, in the water glass, and in our laps.

When it started, at first I told Jeffrey to stop flinging edamame because it had been a hard day for Mom and she is usually not one for messiness and chaos. However, she joined in on the fun, putting spaghetti on her nose as if it were a worm, and had a really good time.

One of the difficult aspects to Mom’s illness is that it is so unpredictable. For quite a few days, Mom was doing better than usual and was in a great mood. Then, for unknown reasons, she became much more confused. The confusion and excessive fatigue understandably increase Mom’s depression and frustration. She did not want to do anything or go anywhere, and she was very annoyed.

I had no idea one of the things that would cheer her up, even if it was just for a short period of time, was a food fight.

This illness is just so unexplainable and effects each person differently. We have no idea when Mom will have a good or bad day. Sometimes she remembers things, other times she does not. Sometimes she is happy, sometimes she is depressed and angry. We have no way to predict what will happen, and no way to fix what is going on.

When things are not going well I often worry and feel a need to keep my son quiet and behaving “properly.” In reality though, it is his innate joy of life, his rambunctious childlike nature, that helps Mom. His ability to have fun allows us all to bring out our inner child, which sometimes is just what we need.

Blessings,

Rev. Katie