A few years ago, my mother had a heart attack. The event scared her because she thought she was “entregando los tenis.” Basically, my very active mother thought her number was up, and her phrase for that wasn’t something as irrelevant to us as “kicking the bucket,” but something more practical and to the point, like “the time has come to turn in my tennis shoes.” Every now and then (mostly when she wants to make the point that I’ve disappointed her) she reminds me that she’s ready to “entregar los tenis.” I’ve finally learned to respond that that I’m going to buy her a bunch of pairs of Keds so that she doesn’t ever have to give them back or hand them in.
© Laura Genao 2006
Lo Que Dijeron