Suzie rolled her eyes. "Or because our parents were too cheap to buy medicine and that damn thing was handy." She patted Karen's arm. "I'm sorry, that's unfair. It was their remedy for the problem, that's all. Another instance of doing it the old-fashioned way, but it was the pits. God, did I despise suffering that business."
Karen seemed disappointed by Suzie's reaction. "It's not so bad. Sarah gave me one when I couldn't poop."
My sister looked at me with unbelieving eyes. "Why in God's name did you do that, Sarah?"
Karen answered for me. "I practically made her do it. That's what Grandma did for you two. I hate medicine and Sarah told me all about it."
Suzie put her arm around my daughter. "Hey, honey. Times change and so do methods."
"I hate to take medicine more," Karen said. "Grandma . . ."
"Karen, Hon. Our Mom was a saint and a great mother to us . . . the best, but that doesn't make her perfect. Sarah is a great Mom too. Listen to her and not a lot of history." Suzie, I love you, I love you, I love you, I said to myself. I wanted to hug her, so I did.
Out of the blue, Karen changed the subject.
"Aunt Suzie, Sarah said Grandma spanked you if you were bad." Suzie answered without hesitation.
"Little kids sometimes need a swat on their butt to keep them in line. Mostly, our parents had other ways of handling our misadventures."
"But if you were really bad . . ."
"Yes, then we'd have to answer for it."
"Grandma would spank you." It was a statement, not a question.
"It was like getting an enema. It wasn't one of my childhood highlights. Suzie looked at me, as if to ask where this was going. I had promised Dr. Mason I'd address the subject with Karen, so listening to Suzie's side of the issue might help. I shrugged and let her answer.
"No, technically our father did it, at Ma's direction. I guess they decided between them it was his job, like shoveling the snow or mowing the yard. Ma cooked and cleaned; he shoveled and spanked. Back in those days, the household chores were more clearly defined. Why do you ask? Are you afraid Sarah might spank you? I can tell you; she won't. She's more like Mom."
"She promised she wouldn't. She won't let my Dad spank us either."
"Good. Better yet, don't do something that warrants getting it."
"Sarah keeps saying that but Grandma told me all good kids do bad things. I bet you spanked Mike and Aunt Maureen when they were really bad."