MADISON TAKES A MEETING

Our granddaughter Madison at age 15 is tall, slender with long wavy dark hair and beautiful. She’s extremely funny, brilliant and at times acerbic.

Recently at a family gathering she asked me, no, she DEMANDED to know what I had done with her bicycle. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about. And promptly forgot about it.

Last week after getting up in the middle of the night to use the facilities, as is my wont, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was thinking about some touch-up painting that needed to be done in our bedroom. That led to me remembering the day Madison’s mother helped paint the room. She brought along Madison who was about seven and her sister Samantha about five. Our older daughter also came to help out. So there were four adults and two children here.

As the painters were working, Madison took a survey.

SURVEY: If you were to have a meeting, what time would you like it to be held, one, two or three o’clock? The consensus of the adults was three.

If you were to have a meeting, where would you like it to be held, the living room, family room or screened-in porch? The screened-in porch won.

If you were to have a meeting, what would you like as a beverage? The adults chose beer and the others chose soda.

So a meeting was arranged on our screened-in porch for three o’clock when the painters would be finished. Madison said she would handle the refreshments.

THE MEETING: An agenda was announced as we all sat on our porch chairs at the stated time.

First, we would stand to pledge allegiance to the flag. A short prayer from Pap Pap would follow. Next, someone was to recite a poem from memory and another was to tell a funny story. We each had to participate in some way.

Refreshments would then be served after the BICYCLE race on the outside patio. All five of us were to complete a circle on the bike. That bicycle was actually a TRICYCLE and a wheel was broken, so no one could ride it and it was later donated to Goodwill.

When Madison left the porch to retrieve the refreshments, we all burst out laughing at the wonderfully funny experience.

And the mystery of the missing bike has now been solved.