Cookie

If you read my previous posts, you know that my mom has leukemia and my sister, Jaylyn, is living with us in Chapel Hill. This necessary proximity reminds us of the traits we share and, of course, the ones we do not. We lived together for more than a dozen years, but drifting into my mid 20s among college buddies a region away from home clouded my memory.

The three of us were eating lunch at an expensive place that would not give this little piggy enough roast beef. They both love places like that, but I like my beef sandwiches cheap and thick.

"Do you want to get some dessert?" my mom asked me.

"Mom, I never eat dessert," I said. "The main course is my dessert."

"You like cookies," she said. She was right. She remembered that I liked cookies when I did not. I went to the counter to get a cookie and brought it back.

"Cookies are the best dessert," I said. My mom and sister both nodded in unison. "Besides having amazing texture and flavor, they are the easiest dessert to eat. All you need to do is pick one up and take a bite. A cookie is simple."

My mom nodded, picked up her plastic utensils and strained to knife the cookie into two unequal pieces.