Spilt Ink

Dad didn't like to confront people such as collecting bad debts or talking to us kids when we had done something wrong. It always seemed to me that Mother was the mediator for everyone. If we spilled our milk at the table, Dad wouldn't yell at us kids. Instead, he would say, "Vessa! Can't we get through one meal without these kids spilling something?"

Once I remember tipping over a bottle of ink and it spilled all over the boks he was working on. I knew I was really in for it, but again, it was "Vessa! Why....?" As a child I always wondered how Mom had all the answers for everything!