Sweet article. Haven't read all the comments yet, but had to laugh at the one where the daughter told her mother what she wanted and she said "that old thing?" My sister helps with Mom three days a week. One day when I was there visiting, Mom said "(Sister) wants the tapestry over the MBR FP." I said okay. Then she said something else sister wanted, so I said I'd like my maternal grandfather's mantel clock, to which she said my sister wanted it as well. I said something about the grandfather clock in the foyer, and Mom said "Oh she doesn't want that!" So I just dropped the conversation. The next week I was talking to my sister and brought up our conversation. She said she didn't want and had never told Mom she wanted any of those things. And she about died laughing when I said Mom didn't think she wanted or needed the grandfather clock. Sister said it is about the only thing she wants. I'm suppose to get the enamel bronze Philip and Kelvin LaVerne coffee table since I learned to walk around it. We decided whenever Mom brings up the subject again, we will just nod and say okay. Then have a huge estate sale when they are both gone because neither of us want or need most of their things. My paternal grandmother was hit by a car and killed. My dad and his siblings picked straws and took turns picking from items grouped together on tables, in cabinets, etc. My dad was most upset about the glass jar that always sat on the breakfast room table was missing. Most likely his sister took it since she was staying at the house. My grandmother did have tape with names on the backs of some things, and specified each granddaughter was to get a lamp. I was the only one that took a lamp and it's in a closet now. The grandson's ended up with nothing, so when my parents are both gone, I'm going to see if they want anything from our paternal grandparents. Families are so funny/weird sometimes.

I had a great father, though my mother was absolutely wonderful. Dad was flawed, but when we siblings get together, it is of our dad that we tell the stories, starting with, "Remember when...?" He was born in the 1890s and did not marry till late, as the country was coming out of the Depression. Then within the first 7 years, he became the father of 4 noisy children. I suspect it was somewhat overwhelming for him. We were always being admonished with such phrases as "Nicely, quietly, and politely!" His favorite reply was no. If I whined that the neighbor girl was being allowed to do what he had denied me, he'd remark, "If Suzie jumped off a cliff, would you want to?" He had tall children and was forever telling us to stand up, stand tall, quit slouching over, and to speak up, quit mumbling, quit fiddling with that (whatever) and sit still. He had been the bachelor around town till marrying mom in his early 40s. The good lord punished him for all his ways with the ladies by giving him 3 daughters (and one son). How he worried about us girls, especially after Mom died. But we all turned out fine, though he did not live to see what we would do with our lives.

My only child is a 49 yr old son. Seems like yesterday that we were dropping him off at college for the first time. He wanted to go away, but when he got there and it was time for us to leave I could tell that he was nervous about this adventure. When it was time for us to leave we got into our vehicle and Iooked at him thru the back window, he was standing in the middle of the parking lot waving at us tentatively. I could tell that he was trying to keep from crying. It was all I could to to keep myself from telling my husband to turn around and get him. I think he might have come with us. We didn't turn around and I think that wa one of the hardest and best decisions I've ever made. I never thought I'd ever have to go thru anything like that again, as I have no grands. What I do have is a 20 yr old niece who I helped raise. We're very close, maybe closer than I would be to a grand. We've been together a lot this summer. She leaves for her 3rd yr of college tomorrow and I'm very sad. I wish the summer could go on a bit longer. Who am I kidding, I would never be ready for her to leave., Oh well, They have to grow up and we all have to let go.

Thanks so much for the helpful suggestions! I really appreciate it, and indeed might compromise by adding sugar but not too much. :) Some added conjectures: Regarding the bitter taste, I have this hunch that the reason some people are more buffered, and less affected, by bitter/sour/salty/spicy/harsh/dry foods are due to the prevalence of high blood sugar in society - that's associated with sweet-saliva. I happen to favor sweet 'n sour (and sweet 'n salty) - but my key question is - do diabetics favor those combos, if after all, shouldn't "sour" actually taste "sweet 'n sour" to diabetics, given their built-in sweet-saliva? Sweet saliva i would assume buffers people from extreme tastes & textures. There's also the supertaster vs. non-taster factor (which can be another buffer) and for all i know, being a non-taster may possibly be one of the causes of high blood sugar. After all, the miners' canaries type of tastebuds have early-warning signals (of what's too sweet or too sour etc.etc.) similar to the way people with sensitive nerves have early-warning signals of whether they're injured. Kids born without nerve-endings that feel pain are a mass of bruises. Oh, they're very cheerful, since after all, they lack pain. Likewise, i longingly eyed my acquaintance, when i saw how cheerfully unaffected she was by an extremely garlicky food-dish, while i felt half dead from it. I don't know if any researcher has ever bothered to research this topic, if only for the purpose that food-labellers should add PH data and humectant data to their carb, fat & sodium labelling.