Chapter 46

At the end of our first year with the CPA firm, we were entitled to two weeks of vacation, and George and Mike persuaded us to spend ten days of that vacation at their cabin in Maggie Valley. Grandma insisted that she should stay home, but we talked her out of it.

We arrived at the cabin late on a Saturday afternoon, and Grandma was overwhelmed by the cabin and, especially, the stream. It took her a couple of attempts in the kitchen before she was comfortable cooking at a much higher altitude than usual, but she got the hang of it. Eight days later, we drove over to Asheville to purchase a case of wine to leave for our hosts.

“Do they have Publix here?” Grandma said.

“No, Ma’am,” I said, “but they have Bi-Lo, and they’re almost as good.”

“I want to go to one, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, but why?”

“Some of the staples in the pantry at the cabin are getting low, so I thought it would be nice to do some stocking up for our hosts.”