It's a fun pastime to tell and listen to stories. I guess it's how legends are started. Often the stories are simple funny stories. What becomes funny now wasn't at the time it occurred.
Those were the days
At many gatherings I heard the story of my older sister being accidentally left behind at a gas station during a road trip. I'm guessing she was 5 or 6 and my brother about 2+ (if I was around I would have been an infant).
Typical road trip stop - Get gas, take care of nature, stretch, and get back on the road. I think it was gas station but maybe a gas station restaurant combination. Everyone needs to stretch and take care of nature calls. Apparently oldest sister was the last one on the nature call.
Dad and Mom jump back into the car along with older brother who was in the back seat. But now he had the back seat all to himself and must of been enjoying it because he didn't bother to mention that older sister was missing. Who? What I have a sister?
What a treasure it would be to have a recording of the conversation when Dad and Mom discovered they were one daughter short. In the story I remember many miles had been traveled before the discovery. (oh she was recovered OK)
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Maybe this new one will be told a few times in years to come.
Early this year we took a short trip to enjoy sometime in FL with my wonderful mother-in-law. Really she is nice but of course she has a few idiosyncrasies that - oh let's move on to the story.
Her stay along the gulf coast was weeks long and we were in and out in days. So I had some space in my luggage and having packed for a longer stay, she had some extra that she rather not drag back.
I willingly offer to carry some of MIL's extra clothes home in my bag (thanks for all those what a nice SIL comments). My wife (M-P) knew this at the time. MIL was flying back days later.
I unpacked and put her stuff wrapped up in various plastic bags off to the side. OK, I left them on the floor. I didn't know where to put them and figure M-P will know the best place for them.
Day after Easter (more than a month later), MIL calls me.
"Where those clothes you carried back for me?"
"Ah? (pause) Oh yeah those shoes and stuff. M-P probably knows where they are. Sorry we should have given them back to you at Easter."
...
"No rush, but it's starting to warm up. Just good to know you didn't give them away."
Later that same day M-P calls me.
"Did my mom call?"
"Oh yeah, so where are those clothes of hers?"
"You don't know? You carried them back. OH SH-;% I think I donated them!"
(failing to hold back my laugh) "She actually said something about not giving them away."
"Go right now and look in the garage. Call me back."
Well I did find MIL's shoes in a pile that was being collected for the next donation run.
M-P had found the clothes, forgot about my good deed, and couldn't figure out where the clothes came from. She concluded they might be from our daughter's spring cleaning and were dropped off to be given away.
M-P had donated some of her mom's clothes in exchange for some coupons at a women's clothing store.
The end of the story can not be written because M-P still needs to tell her mom. She hoping after getting the shoes back, her mom will forget about the clothes. I doubt it.
Have a story/legend to tell - let me know in the comments.
