“These bags seem a bit heavier that I expected. OK, now let’s put this stuff away.” Those were my thoughts that morning as the delivery gal got back in her car and drove away. If only I’d known!

I put two bags up on the counter and left the heavy one on the floor. Could have lifted it but why bother. It would be easier when I unloaded it. Started pulling stuff from the first bag, some apples, oatmeal cereal, a pound of butter, and a five pound bag of flour. That was the only heavy thing I ordered, I thought, glancing at the bag waiting on the floor. Two potatoes, a loaf of bread, a bag of those tasty mandarins got lifted and carried to their proper places in the cupboard. Where was the breakfast stuff, the eggs and meatless sausages I ordered? O, there they were, hiding under the washed spinach at the bottom of the second bag. And the garlic and spaghetti? Where where they? In the third bag? OK, we’ll see in a moment after I put the eggs and butter in the refrig.

Now for the third bag. As I started toward it, my foot hesitated. Something didn’t feel right. Don’t know how to say it, just, not right. As my finger tips touched the white plastic handles to open the bag, a tingle went up my arm. I jumped back. Ah, come on, I said to myself. It’s just a bag of groceries and I’m the one who ordered it. Leaning over again, my two hands quickly grabbing and pulling the handles apart, I peered inside. All OK, the garlic and spaghetti right on top. I relaxed - until what the spaghetti package rested on moved ever so slightly. Appalled and captivated, I watched the spaghetti package rise slightly then recede, rise and recede.

While it’s been some time since that morning, it seems at the same time like yesterday and an eternity has passed. My life changed the moment I looked into that bag and there’s no way back.