A Meal to Share

Joseph had worked for visiting Americans. He stopped me on the road just after I arrived in Liberia to ask if I needed a worker at my house, and I told him that Mahnmahn Mulbah was working as my housekeeper. A couple of weeks later I thought that Joseph might help part time with cutting the grass and washing the windows, but when I asked Mahnmahn what she thought, she was reluctant that I hire anyone. But, I persisted, and Joseph was hired. Mahnmahn liked him very much, and she always found work for him. When the flowers that were planted were growing so well, I wondered if we should have a vegetable garden. Joseph cleared the land behind the house, chopping and burning the bush in an area about fifty feet by thirty feet. He planted corn, and squash, and eggplant. The corn was just beginning to sprout when news came bringing my early departure. Joseph was sick with malaria, but one evening he came by to say goodbye. As he folded and unfolded the paper I had written my address on, I said, "Joseph, you and Mahnmahn and I must be happy for the time God gave us together." "I am Michael, he replied. I'm just sad, because we won't get to eat the corn together."