Posted by:
donbagley
(
)
Date: June 05, 2015 11:48AM
Long ago, in the faraway land of Castro Valley, there lived a young woman with three children and only one dress. She was married to a widow's son who beat her and kept her indoors.
The news of her mistreatment got back to his lodge, and the widow's son was disfellowshipped. Enraged with his misfortune, he beat his young wife and children soundly. Then he left for town in search of work.
A kindly neighbor invited the young wife over for coffee. "My husband doesn't allow me to drink it," said the young wife, "it's against lodge rules." The neighbor, herself a young wife, said that drinking coffee was not mandatory, so why not come over for a visit? The young wife put on her only dress and left the children to fend for themselves.
She enjoyed the company of the neighbor and some other young wives who'd gathered there for coffee and conversation. But in the course of the party, someone spilled coffee all over the young wife's dress. She ran home in tears.
When she got there, she found that the children had stripped all the leaves from the houseplants in her absence. Her husband would surely beat her for that and the coffee-stained dress. So she slapped the children, and they cried for her.