By: Patricia Francis Good     

If confession is good for the soul, then my soul feels
redeemed after writing this story!!! As I get older, I realized
the mistakes I have made in my lifetime. I think its time to
clear out my soul’s offenses. What better way for me to do
this than to tell a short story and hope that the people I have
offended will forgive me.

It all started when I was born. Late in my mamma’s life, she
told one of my sisters that when I was born she knew she was
going to have her hands full. Apparently I came out of the
womb with a strong will and vibrant personality. My mother
was in for a wild ride with me! SORRY MAMMA, GOD REST
YOUR SOUL!

Our house was small and contained 8 members of our family.
In one bedroom furnished with two Army bunk beds, my three
sisters and I shared one clothes closet and a tiny toy closet
with one shelf designated for one toy for each girl. That
wasn’t a problem since each of us only had one toy that fit
nicely on our individual shelf. As far as the closet for four
girls, momma bought our clothes from a second-hand store
and they were passed down to the next girl as the years
passed. So, we could fit all our clothes and shoes just fine
into that one closet.

I was not the neatest girl. In fact, the truth be told, I was
messy by anyone’s standards. But momma was a “neat” nut!
She had to be with that little amount of real estate and that
many people in our house. We had chores posted every
week on a bulletin board. Her rules were law in our
household, and we were expected to abide by them and
uphold our responsibilities for keeping the house clean. But,
when momma would come to inspect our room, there were
sometimes (probably more often than not) dirty clothes on the
floor. When my mother would ask who was the offender, my
three sisters would answer in unison “PAT, PAT THE BIG
FAT RAT WEARS THAT!” (Thanks a lot girls!) And, I would
have to pick up my clothes, wash them and then be put on restriction, which meant no outside activities and no fun for
me for a minimum of one to two weeks. As my chronic
disobedience continued, I racked up a lot more restriction
time!

My second character flaw exhibited itself in my strong
opinions about everything and I was often on restriction for
talking back to my mother. I remember distinctly telling my
sisters that I was going to go tell mother that she was wrong
on several occasions. They would beg me not to do that …
however, that didn’t stop me. Once again I would either end
up on restriction or be on the wrong end of the “fanny
paddle.”

As my teenage years unfolded, I am sure, now that I look
back at it, that my “strong will and vibrant personality” were
very challenging to one and all! In our house, everyone was
suppose to be home by 6:00 o’clock to gather for our family
dinner. Starting with daddy, everyone would take a turn and
talk about their day after we had, of course, said “Grace”. My
mother was a simple cook and often we had a big pot of chili,
soup, stew or beans sitting in the middle of the table and
when it was gone … she would tell us there was always bread
and butter to fill our tummies. We were not allowed to watch
television or have the radio on during these meals. Mother
would be appalled if she were living today to see cell phones,
I-Pads and other electronics attached to the people she loved
at the dinner table.

Well, when I was 16 years old, I became a teenage volunteer
for the March of Dimes. I loved being a part of something
bigger than myself, where I could contribute my time and
passion to a cause I believed in. Later I would realize that it
was a “calling”. However, one night I was late for dinner –
unpardonable by my mother’s standards! When I arrived,
everyone was already seated at the dinner table, halve-way
through their meal. Mother said to me, “If you can’t be home
in time for dinner, then you will not be allowed to go to the
March of Dimes office after school anymore.” And in my
teenage state of mind, that made me really mad. So, I
replied: (God forgive me!) “Mother, you should just be happy
that I wasn’t in the back seat of a car, making out with a boy!(Even though I was not allowed to date at 16!!)

I continued by adding “I was doing my volunteer work which I will continue to
do whether you like it or not!”. There was dead silence at the
table. My mother was furious and World War Three broke out
that night to the horror of the rest of my family sitting silently
as witnesses. Bottom line …. I ended up on restriction for
months after that one.

I also embarrassed or humiliated my sisters during this time.
For my older sister Kathy it was the night our pep squad
teacher told us we did not have to wear our dress uniforms to
the night football game because it was going to be freezing
cold. We were told we could wear pants instead. I, however,
chose to wear a very warm skirt and sweater instead. Kathy
said, “Pat, nobody else is wearing a skirt! Please don’t
embarrass me by being the only girl during the half time show
that will be in a skirt! I beg you!” SORRY KATHY! I wore the
skirt and I WAS the only girl on the football field that wasn’t in
pants.
And speaking of embarrassing Kathy, when I was allowed to
date, I was invited to a dance by a new kid at school. His
name was Tommy Walker. He was really cool. We went to
the dance in his car and he turned out to be the best dancer
on the floor. I was so proud! We had a terrific time at the
dance. When we drove home, Tommy stopped the car in
front of our house. (Kathy was watching behind a curtain!) He
reached his arm over the back of my seat, and as he leaned
in for a big goodnight kiss, I stopped him and said these
words, “Let’s not ruin a perfect evening, Tommy.” (I knew nice
girls didn’t kiss on the first date! – It was my first and last date
in high school!) SORRY TOMMY! The next day at school,
apparently he told everybody what I had said. Kathy once
again, was mortified by all her friends knowing what I had
said to Tommy. SORRY AGAIN KATHY! (By the way, for my
senior prom, my guy friends drew straws to see who had to
take me … the short straw won Prude Pat for the evening!
Lucky guy!)

My sister Pam was just the sweetest, shyest and most
obedient child in our family. But when I decided to try out for
the school Talent Show I made her join me in what I thought
was my greatest dance performance of ME & MY SHADOW.
I think it was one of her lowest moments to be my shadow
and its a wonder that she ever forgave me and still loves me!
SORRY PAM!

So, I better stop writing now about the many, many mistakes
of my childhood, but I will add that the night of my high school
graduation I was on restriction. Mother was forced to allow
me to attend because I was 1st Vice President of my class
and had a seat on the stage and my Aunt Gertie (her only
sister) had flown down from Iowa just to attend. SORRY
MOM, AGAIN!

If you know my sisters Kathy, Pam, Janet and I you know that
we are very close even to this day, and that we love each
other dearly. Mom told us never to get mad at each other
because one day when we grew up, we would need each
other. She was right about that and about most everything. If
we were fighting as kids, she would make us stay in our
bedroom until we could walk out arm-in-arm. After sticking
out our tongues at each other for about an hour, we would
start laughing and walk out walk-in-arm. It worked. Thanks
Mom.

As we grew up and became young adults, my sisters got
married and had children of their own. I was busy making my
way in the non profit world as a fundraiser. But, we would
take one weekend out of the year to go off for a sisters’
weekend out of town. Boy, did we have fun … and still do!
During one of these weekends, someone would have reason
to say that “they were sorry” for some minor deed or
statement. So we had a small, wooden sign made that said,
“I’M SORRY”. This sign was passed around as one of us
would be forced to admit that we were sorry for some small
misdeed or careless statement. Nothing big…but we had a lot
of fun passing that sign around.

However, as you might guess by now … after all, I am writing a story about how–“I’M SORRY”, the sign ended up with me for 7 years for forgetting my passport for a cruise we took a few years ago. I could not get on the ship without it, but I paid my maid’s children to
bring my passport down from San Antonio to Galveston the
night before and I did make it on the boat. However, because
I caused such stress and angst for my 3 sisters, they all agreed that the sign was mine for a significant amount of time to equal the crime! SORRY KATHY, PAM & JANET!

So, whether by intention or mistake, I became the owner of
that sign. And recently, just when the seven years was nearly
up and I would be allowed to give back the SORRY SIGN, I
once again had something happen that cost me ownership of
that sign for the rest of my life.
If you are a delicate person … please stop reading now! You
will not be able to “un-see” in your mind’s eye, the story I’m
about to tell.

This is what happened. It all started when I went to west
Texas to spend Thanksgiving with my sister Pam and her
family in Ft. Davis. Even though this has been a difficult year,
I have been in good health. So, I hiked in Big Bend with my
nephew, Jerry Joe and attended a Star Party at the
MacDonnell Douglas Observatory on a cold west Texas night,
and finally ended up on horseback up in the Davis Mountains
with my sister Pam. Unfortunately, because I had not ridden
a horse in years, I was pretty sore after two hours on horse
back in the mountains on a horse who decided at one point to
run me into the branches of a tree! But, that’s another story!

After the ride was over, Pam was stiff from a leg that had
seized up on her and I was walking bowlegged like Chester
from Gun Smoke as we managed our way out of the choral
arm-in-arm and back to our car, vowing to each other … that
was our last ride!!!

Well, later my saddle sores got bad and one day while my
sister Kathy was over for the afternoon at my house, I asked
her if she would take a look at them because, obviously, I
could not see that far behind me. I pulled down my pants and
bent over. Kathy leaned in to get a good look. And then it
happened…a biological event that I had no control over … I
farted in her face! I’m REALLY, REALLY SORRY KATHY! Of course, we both were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our faces.If you are one of the women that constantly tell Kathy, Pam,
Janet or I that you wish you could be one of our sisters …
better think twice about that!

Although I have to say there isn’t much my sisters wouldn’t do for me. However this particularly event turned out to be unforgettable and
unforgivable! Of course, we called Pam and Janet to tell
them what had happened. That’s when they decided that I
deserved the Sorry Sign for life! I can’t say I blame them.
As I do with all my stories there is always a life lesson to be
learned. There is really nothing wrong with being sorry. It
means you admit that you’re not perfect and you make
mistakes – sometimes intentionally and sometimes by
accident.

However, it doesn’t matter what your intention was.
You can still be sorry and ask for forgiveness from the people
who have been offended or suffered in some way from your
actions or words. I wish there was a way to go back and ask
forgiveness from many more people that I have offended. But,
that is probably unrealistic and would require more time than I
have left to live on this earth! So, if you are reading this story
and you are one of those people, please accept my apology.

COWBOY BACON BEANS

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 4 hr 0 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups dry pinto beans
• 1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces
• 2 whole green bell peppers, diced
• 1 whole onion, diced
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, optional
• 2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, more to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

INSTRUCTIONS

• Rinse the beans under cold water, sorting out any rocks/particles. Set aside.
• In a heavy pot (cast iron), sauté the bacon pieces until halfway cooked and the fat is rendered. Add the green peppers and onions to the pot and cook until starting to get brown, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil, and then add the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic.
• Reduce the heat to a simmer, place on the lid and cook until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick 3 to 4 hours.

INSPIRATION: