green jello

Once, back in the day, when I was a strict vegetarian and didn’t eat any sugar, I was at my aunt’s house for Easter in CT, visiting from CA. She knew in advance of my vegetarian tendencies but served me a big chunk of ham anyway. I must have looked away, trying to focus on something else. Aha! The green molded jello on a plate! It was a lovely green, with little bits of fruit inside. My Aunt looked at me looking at the jello and said: It’s not for staring, Susan… it’s for eating! Of course, this was the same aunt who, when I visited her years later, told me then what a shame it was that I had had to get married because I was pregnant. I laughed and told her she was wrong, that I had been there, and that conception had occurred well after nuptials. Yes, she said, it really is a shame you had to get married the way you did. Green jello and ham… there’s just no changing some things, eh?