Headcheese

I was shopping at the Marketplace at the Lakewood Mall the other day and came across some headcheese. I found myself reaching for my cell phone to call Dad. Only a heartbeat, then I remembered...oh...right. I started to put it in my cart, then held it in my hand for a second...sighed, and laid it back down. Dad loved headcheese, the cheese that isn't. It's actually a meat jelly made with the flesh from the head of a calf or pig and set in aspic. It's a European cold cut. One of those acquired taste kind of things, like chitterlings (a.k.a. chitlins') and pickled pigsfeet. Dad talked about it so much that one day I was reaching in the fridge for something, and grabbed a slice, just because. After that I found myself picking it up at the Safeway, until they stopped selling it, and bringing it home for Dad. It's funny the things, or people, or moments that cause an ache. I'm hoping the day will come when the ache will be less, and replaced by a warm smile instead.

But not today; today my heart hurts.

I miss you Dad. :)