I went to see MOM on the 4^th of July
She said, “You know what I’d like? Let’s have Hot Dogs!”

“But you don’t like Hot Dogs,” I reminded her.

“But it’s the 4^th of July! I feel like we should have them.”

So on the afternoon of July 4^th, I stopped at MENDY’s in Grand Central Terminal — They make a Great Hot Dog! — and I got three Hot Dogs with all the trimmings: Mustard, Sour Kraut, Relish, Onions…

I brought them up to MOM’s.
We sat and had an early dinner together.
“How’s your Hot Dog?” I asked her.
“Horrible,” she replied with genuine disappointment.

“But you don’t like Hot Dogs,” I reminded her.

I had also made her a fresh Lasagna from scratch, as I would be heading out of town, and I figured I’d leave it in her refrigerator so she’d have it for the week.

The next Day, I called her from the airport before my flight took off.
“Oh, I just finished dinner,” she told me.
“Oh, Good,” I replied. “What’d you have?
“Leftovers,” she told me.
“Oh, The Lasagna I made?”
“No. I had that last Hot Dog you brought that was left over.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “How was it?” I asked.
“Horrible!” she told me.

“But, MOM, you didn’t like it yesterday! You don’t like Hot Dogs! What made you think it would be any different today?”
“I thought maybe it would taste better leftover,” she told me.
“And did it?”
“No.”

The next Day, I called MOM from the West Coast.
Did you get to Church this morning?” I asked her.
“Oh, Yes!” she told me. And I just got in, because afterward, MARY ANN and I went to lunch.
“Oh, That’s Nice! Where’d you go?” I asked.
“Nathan’s,” she told me.

I paused.
“Why?”
“Well because they’re supposed to have the Best Hot Dogs! And I figured they’d be better than those Lousy ones you brought me!”
“And how was it?” I asked.
“Horrible,” she told me.
“MOM,” I exclaimed! “You Don’t Like Hot Dogs! You Don’t Like them! It doesn’t matter where you Go! You’re not going to suddenly like them! You have a Lasagna in the refrigerator it took me six hours to put together for you! Please eat that!”

I had been working on MOM to go to the Senior Citizen’s Group in Tuckahoe.
Her regular location is closed for the Summer, and I’d like to see her getting out a bit more.
MOM likes the Senior Citizens, but she is not a fan of the Lunch there.
As she says, “Whaddaya’ expect for three dollars?”

A week later, MOM tells me that she went to the Tuckahoe Group.
I asked how it was.
She said it was quite nice, and the trip really wasn’t bad.
“What’d you do?” I asked.
“Oh, the same stuff,” She told me. “They had someone speaking about something or other. Then a bit of Exercise. OH, and I meant to tell you… we had Lunch there, and you’ll never guess what we had!”
Oh, Boy.
“Hot Dogs!” she announced with the delighted enthusiasm of a Young Child!
“And how were they?” I asked yet again.
“THEY WERE DELICIOUS!” she told me! “I was So Surprised!
They were REALLY GOOD! Howdaya’ like that!?
I kept thinking I had to tell you! I finally got a Good One!”

I am not sure if it’s Faith or StickToItiveness or just Trying and Trying Again…
But MOM sure has a way of getting what she wants
And Creating a Reality that Works for Her…

What can you Manifest today?
What can you stick with until you get a Good One?

Is there Someone or Something you need to keep trying with?
Can you Let Go of the idea that Something or Someone is bad, no matter how many bad experiences you’ve had with it/them?
Can you Believe, against all odds, that something or someone you don’t like right now,
You will learn to like again?

Well, Hot Dog!

# # #