The Berry Pickers

by Amanda Peters

“There are some people, Joe, that we make allowances for. You know he nearly drowned as a baby and didn’t quite grow up right after that. Nothing wrong with Frankie. God must have had a plan for him, so we take him just the way he is.

“No but. Just get back to work and be kind to Frankie. You never know when you might need kindness from people.”

But, as Mom always says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Mother always said that God would never give us more than we could handle. And while I don’t believe in the God that brought her so much comfort, I understand the sentiment. Back then, at that point in my life, I needed to make peace with the decisions I’d made and carve out a new life for myself.