Hot Flash Annie's, by Donna Ciappina

August 2001: It had been one year since my mother’s death. The year was complicated by family conflicts over her estate, and I was still emotionally raw from the losses.

My husband and I were vacationing at our favorite vacation spot, Acadia National Park. I was shopping at some of the gift shops in South West Harbor. Specifically, I was in a little shop called “Hot Flash Annie’s”. How could I not go in/!

I picked up a little glass stone with the word JOY written on it. It reminded me of a

stone I had given my mother years ago that sat on her kitchen table for the rest of her life next to her bills, newspaper articles, and ashtray. When she died I took it back even

though it was covered in nicotine. I was wondering how I would find joy again.

When I got to the register to pay for the stone, I began to tell the owner/cashier about my mother and the stone. I stood there sobbing, she came around from behind the register and hugged me and said, “I know.” I was comforted by her hug. I pulled myself together, thanked her, and left the shop.

When I returned home from vacation, there was a box from Hot Flash Annie’s. I opened it to find a small glass “angel” with a note. I wish I could find the note, but it is tucked away somewhere, I imagine the note wished me well. I keep both stones and the angel where I can see them. The stones remind me of the love and joy I had with my mother and family. I hold those memories close to my heart and try to be open to those feelings in my present life. The angel reminds me of all the support I had in the very difficult few years after my mother’s death from my husband, friends, and strangers who gave me what I needed. A hug and a listening ear.

In the next 4 years, my husband and I would marry and adopt our daughter, Rebecca, then another cat, and our family dog…it was a joyful time yet often bittersweet.

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