Life Matters

The Lost Comb

| Sharon Arpana Edwards

One day about twenty years ago, my flight attendant friend in Hong Kong called to say she would be in LA in a few weeks. We usually met when she came to LA on a flight. The airline put her up at the Torrance Marriott, and I lived in nearby Redondo Beach. If her layover fell on a weekend, we would hang out at the Del Amo Mall, shopping until our feet begged for mercy.

My friend always asked if I wanted anything from Hong Kong, but this time she had a request. She had seen a special kind of hair gadget online but it was available for shipping in the US only, so she asked if I could order it for her. It was a BOGO (buy one get one) deal. She would pay for both, and I could have the second piece. I’d have helped my friend even without her generous offer, but then I wouldn’t be telling you the story twenty years later.

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Mother’s Day Minus Mummy

| Sharon Arpana Edwards

Last night, and again this morning, I reached for the phone to call my mother for Mother’s Day, and then it hit me. If someone does pick up the phone, it won’t be Mummy, because Mummy went home to be with the Lord last week.

It happened suddenly. She was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, May 2, and was gone on Wednesday morning. Over those three days I prayed she would live to see another Mother’s Day, and that I would get to see her once more in this life. Instead, she is celebrating Mother’s Day in heaven and I must bide my time.

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A Hair-Raising Story

| Sharon Arpana Edwards

I don’t know how safe New Delhi’s bus stops are for women these days, but once upon a time they were about as safe as shark-infested waters are for scuba divers. This is because New Delhi’s bus stops were haunted by a breed of predatory fiend known as the chain snatcher. If you heard that a woman had had her gold chain snatched, you could safely assume that the crime had been committed at a bus stop. Continue reading →