This happened last week:
Eli met me at the door as I was bringing in the day's harvest from the garden. He exclaimed, "Jalapenos!," grabbed one from me, and chomped off the end. Then I watched as he began fanning his face and shouting while tears streamed down his cheeks. I admit that I laughed a bit before getting him a glass of milk.
This happened 25 years ago:
One day while we were making lunch, Dad started teasing Miriam with a jalapeno. "Try it," he taunted, chasing her out of the kitchen with it.
As soon as they were gone, I went over to inspect the jalapenos. What was the big deal? I picked up one of the jalapeno seeds and popped it in my mouth.
When Miriam and Dad came back into the kitchen, my mouth was on fire and I may have been crying a little bit, but of course when Dad asked what was wrong, I said, "Nothing!"
