The Last Meal

They had always joked about it. The greatest honor that a food could aspire to in the Lazurus household was to be declared a part of Mommy’s last meal. The siblings had a silent competition each time one of them cooked to have their food added to their mother’s plans for her last meal. Each one wanted their food to be deemed so special, so elevated that it was worth joining the short list of foods worthy of a person’s last meal.

No one would have ever dreamed that this last meal would ever take place. No one believes that their mother could end up in that situation. You see, it was all of a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or wanting to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The family’s beloved mother had been tried and sentenced. The family had tried valiantly to fight with the very best of experts, yet nothing could be helped. They had not been able to get the sentence lessened. Sometimes justice is not just.

The family was devastated, yet there was nothing that they could do. They had tried their very hardest. They had exhausted all their options. No stone had been left unturned, no avenue not yet explored. The situation could not be helped. Now all the family could do was put all their energy into producing the last meal to the highest standard.

The children began their search for the most appropriate person to produce this auspicious meal. They searched the world, sparing no expense. Yet despite their careful research, they kept hitting upon the same problem: No one was a better cook than Carolyn Lazurus, the convict. Nobody could prepare a meal on the same caliber as her cooking. So the children had no choice but to inform the mother that she would need to be the one cooking her own last meal.

Although the mother would be cooking her own last meal, the children were determined to prepare everything the mother would need to produce this meal. The first step was to shop for the necessary ingredients. The children scoured every supermarket, specialty food store, farmers market, and online food source that they had access to. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they could not seem to buy the proper ingredients. Despite their intense desire to do everything they could to make the process as easy as they could for their mother, they had to agree that their mother would be the best one to shop for the groceries for her own last meal. So the children had no choice but to inform their mother that she would need to be the one to shop for her own last meal.

Although the mother would be the one shopping for the ingredients for her own last meal, the children were determined to find the very best driver to take their mother around to purchase the ingredients for her last meal. In their search to find the best one, the sibilings endured many test drives with drivers that were too fast, too slow, too chatty, too quiet, too friendly, too overbearing, and the one fault that united all the different drivers was their intense desire to please. The children were ready to pay whatever was necessary to finance the most comfortable ride for their mother, and all the drivers were aware of that fact. Yet despite their search, the children could find no one more suited to driving the car than their own mother. She always knew the perfect speed to drive at, the correct amount of conversation necessary, what was “too friendly”, and most importantly she knew that no matter what she did, she would never please anyone. So the children had no choice but to inform their mother that she would need to be the one to drive herself to shop for the ingredients to cook her last meal.

The children were determined to get the ambience for that important meal just right. They wanted it to be elegant, understated, bold, and playful all at the same time. None of the designers they had approached believed that the tablescape and atmosphere for one meal could have all of these conflicting adjectives. They searched all over but could find no one suited to the task better than their mother. She had the perfect style, the ability to have a vision and carry it out into reality. So the children had no choice but to inform their mother that she would need to be the one to design the décor for her last meal.

The night before that fateful meal, a frantic group text conversation happened between Carolyn’s children.

“I’m rethinking: are we sure the suspect was guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt?”

“Did the grand jury even have enough evidence to form a case?”

“Is there any way the situation could be remedied?”

“I hope it’s not too late to do anything…”

The next morning, the children knew what they had to do. The eldest was appointed to go to the flower store and pick out the biggest, most extravagant, most expensive bouquet she could find. The middle child was tasked with finding the most gourmet box of chocolates that could be purchased at a moment’s notice. The youngest child was responsible for writing a very sincere apology note.

At exactly the agreed upon time, the sibilings convened in front of the house of the convicted felon. With trepidation in their hearts, they knocked on the door. It felt like days had passed before the door slowly opened. Although they had not appointed an official spokesperson, the eldest jumped in as eldest often do.

“Mom, we have something that we wanted to tell you,” she started.

“In an almost unprecedented event, the jury has reconsidered their verdict. Mom, we came to tell you that you are cleared of your sentence: a solitary vacation. Due to the events leading up to the final dinner before your vacation, we have decided that there is absolutely no way we could let you go by yourself, you are just too precious to us. We have all arranged our schedules and plan to join you early tomorrow morning!”

The ensuing group hug was unlike any other group hug that the court had ever seen. The faithful stenographer can attest to that.