Scrabble And What To Do With Those Darn Q's.

A quick little story about a beautiful moment between an aunt and her nephew that nearly brought me to tears one afternoon.

I first met Sparky and her partner, Janet, in the summer of 2008. They lived in a beautiful cabin in an area of North Carolina near a town called Fearrington. Built deep in the woods, the home was a cozy, sunny place complete with a golden labrador retriever named Flame. I immediately felt welcomed in their home.

Sparky, one of the first female fire chiefs in the area, was warm and amicable. Her schedule was usually days long at the firehouse. I learned over the weeks that she was an avid hiker and a true lover of nature. Janet, a business professional, was also very welcoming, although a bit more reserved. She too worked long hours, so both were very excited to have meals at the ready in their fridge.

Throughout the 3 years I cooked for them, I got to meet their family and friends and was kindly invited to numerous gatherings at their home. Some I catered and others I simply attended. Sparky was a huge music fan, especially loving the music of Lady Gaga, she went to every show of her’s that was within a 500 mile radius. She even attended numerous gigs my own band played and even dubbed me “Crocker Rocker” as in Betty Crocker.

Sparky was usually home when I would come to cook making sure to schedule me when she was off from the firehouse. When I arrived in the morning she would usually be sitting at the kitchen table relaxing and reading the paper. We usually had lovely little chats while I unpacked the groceries with Sparky usually asking if I had played any shows lately. Janet seemed to never be home.

On numerous occasions, Sparky’s young nephew, Chris, who was maybe 8 years old, would come to visit Sparky and Janet usually spending a week during the Summer or occasional long weekend. One afternoon, while I was cooking, Chris and Sparky were playing a game of Scrabble at the kitchen table. About an hour had passed and as I was wrapping up a mass of Chipotle Chicken Burritos for them on the kitchen island, I heard Chris sadly say to Sparky, “Aunt Sparky…I think I’m done. I don’t have any letters to make anything with.” Sparky quickly asked if she could take a peek at his letters to help him. Chris gave a glum, “Sure, I guess so". Sparky spun his tile holder around and looked back at the board. What I witnessed next nearly brought me to tears. Sparky exclaimed, “Hey! you DO have a great word you can make with what you have here!” Chris replied with an excited, “Really?!” Sparky then said, “Yes, look." as she laid down some of his tiles. “See? ‘Queer!’” In a beautiful teaching moment, Chris asked, “What’s queer mean?” I glanced up at the scene to see how Sparky was going to field this question. She simply stated, “Well, queer means strange or different or unusual. It’s also used to describe your two aunts. We would be considered queer.” Sparky then looked over at me with a sweet and knowing smile. I smiled back and gently shook my head up and down in approval and gave a quick thumbs up. Chris having sat there for a few seconds said, “But you aren’t different or unusual to me.”

That day has stuck with me all these years. It was a complete and beautiful moment that still brings so much joy to my heart. And I know that that day Sparky’s heart was filled a thousand times over. And oh, Chris won the game!

Until next week, Thanks for following along on this journey! If you enjoy Secrets and Spice please make sure you subscribe to get each weeks story emailed directly to you.

Oh, and please share these stories to those you think might enjoy the read.

- Shirlé

**All names, places and occupations have been changed to protect the identity of all clients.

A Shout Out to this Weeks Paid Supporters:

A very special shout out to the following paid subscribers:

Robinlee Garber, Chef Lynn Warlick Wells, Jake Brokaw, Miyuki Furtado and Spanky Wilson. A special shout out to new paid subscribers Lisa Deemer Sethi and Claudia L Sanders! Thank you all soooo much for your support!

-Robinlee is a childhood friend and all around renaissance woman, living and playing music in Chicago.

-Chef Lynn is a fellow Personal Chef buddy and owner of Thyme Well Spent, Personal Chef Service, based out of Greensboro NC. When not cooking for clients or food styling for cookbooks, she can be found hobnobbing with tastemakers and culinary shakers all over the country.

-Jake and his wife Brigitte have long been huge supporters of my cooking and are also huge supporters of the arts in Baltimore, Maryland. Jake also has an Orthopedic practice I have had to use a few times.

-Miyuki has been a lifelong friend and bandmate of mine from days long past. He’s also one of the best fathers and husbands I know and has raised one of the coolest kids, his daughter Mino along with his sweet wife Tricia. Miyuki currently plays music in his Alt-Country band, Divining Rod. You can listen to Divining Rod out on all music platforms. (Chef Lynn, I think you would LOVE his music!)

-Spanky has been a huge supporter of my cooking from my NC days. When not fire fighting you might find Spanky hiking the Appalachian trail.

-Lisa has been in my life since the early 90’s. She’s a huge music supporter and a lover of all things delicious.

-Claudia is an old friend from my days in North Carolina. I met Claudia at a pig pull back in 1998, when I first moved to Chapel Hill. Since then, Claudia has started a successful Personal Chef business, Good Intentions Personal Chef Service in the Hillsborough area, as well as serving the Durham and Chapel Hill area.

Thank you all sooo much for supporting me in this endeavor. I am truly grateful for you.

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