Never put your eggs in my basket
This is a story that was told to me down though the years by my family. At the time it happened I was the baby of the family so that would have made me 5 years old or younger.
My mother and sisters would tell this and laugh at me when I would look like I didn’t believe it. I know now that it did happen, so I will tell it to you the way that it was told to me. At the time this took place we lived in Cartersville.
My father was still pastoring a church and was out of town. It was at Easter, and my mother decided to give us kids an Easter egg hunt. We lived out where we had chickens and a cow. There were always eggs in the house so my mother got some coloring and dyed the eggs. I understand from the story that was told to me that the eggs were red and blue. The red ones were easy to find but the blue ones blended into the grass, making them harder to see.
Easter morning came, and my sisters kept me in the house while Mother went out and hid the eggs. When the eggs were all hidden, we went outside to find them. The story goes that, not knowing what I was supposed to do, I stepped on one and broke it. The girls were finding them and putting them in a basket that was on the porch.
My mother decided if she didn’t get me out of the yard there would be no eggs left, for I had stepped on another one. She got the basket of eggs and sat me down on the ground beside them to guard the basket.
It was no fun sitting there with a basket of eggs but, when you where told to sit in those days, you sat. They said I sat and watched them while they found the eggs and put them in the basket. Mother had sat me down beside a big tree with the eggs.
With the basket filling and the hunt slowing down, there was still some eggs that could not be found.
The girls were running everywhere but could not find the rest of the eggs. I remember being told that my mother joined in trying to find the rest of the eggs. The eggs were counted but there was still some short. They looked and looked but could not find the last few eggs.
Finally the girls gave up and came over to where my mother was and told her they could not find any more eggs. My mother came over and started to count the eggs again. When she looked over at the tree where I sat, she started to laugh.
When she finally stopped laughing she went behind the tree and picked up some eggshells. She showed the eggshells to me and asked, “Did you eat the eggs?” Now I was too little to know how to count but held up one finger and said I ate one. The girls had gone behind the tree where the eggshells were and started laughing. “How many did you eat?” they asked again. They said again I held up one finger and said I ate one.
Now if you have something you want watched, be sure that the person you have watching it knows how to count. I have always enjoyed eggs any way you can cook them.
The moral of the story: Do not put all your eggs in one basket, but if you do, make sure the person you ask to watch the basket is trustworthy.