Clara found herself standing in front of the fridge way longer than she planned to because she couldn’t stop staring at the eggs. You see, they weren’t just raw eggs, but hard-boiled eggs already peeled and neatly placed on the second shelf. They were only covered with a plastic lid.
Growing up, she always saw her mother handling food with caution. She was checking labels, dates, sniffing containers, and wouldn’t let leftovers sitting in the kitchen for more than a day. And now, her mother-in-law boiled the eggs just in case and kept them in the fridge for days.
In fact, Ruth had this habit of preparing most of the food in advance and keeping it in the fridge, and that included soups, stews, a bunch of cooked grains, and even fruits which she cut in pieces and slices. And now, she started doing that with the eggs.
Clara closed the fridge and didn’t dare to have those eggs. But somehow, the image stayed with her the entire day.
Later that afternoon, she stepped outside and found Ruth in the garden. She was wearing an old shirt and moving slowly, as if there was no reason to rush. Clara watched for a moment, and then asked about the eggs, trying not to offend her mother-in-law.
Ruth smiled and said she boiled them every few days. It saved time, especially in the mornings. If someone was hungry, they were there. No big reason beyond that.
That was all. No explanation about safety or rules, just a simple habit she found useful.
Over the next few days, Clara started paying more attention, and she realized that nothing in the fridge was random. The containers were actually labeled with dates and leftovers were rotated. Ruth handled the food properly, and she had her own method that seemed to be working for many years. Clara realized her mother-in-law didn’t cook around hunger but so that hunger wouldn’t be an emergency.
The thing was that Ruth’s way was just different than what Claire was used to when it came about food. As a girl, there was nothing in between when it came to food, you either eat it right away or you lose it. In Ruth’s kitchen, however, food was steady.
Without really deciding to, Clara unconsciously started copying some of Ruth’s habits. She washed vegetables when she brought them home and cooked a little extra rice instead of just enough. She planned one meal ahead instead of thinking about everything at once. Nothing dramatic changed, but her evenings felt less rushed than before.
One night, she and Ruth sat at the table peeling eggs for dinner. They talked about small things like the weather, errands, someone they both knew.
Clara realized she wasn’t uneasy anymore. Not about the food, and not about doing things differently from what she was used to. It wasn’t about right or wrong. It was just another way to handle daily life.
“I think I understand now,” she said.
Ruth smiled. “It helps,” she said. “That’s all.”
Clara thought about that later, while putting the eggs back in the fridge. They were just eggs. And somehow, that was the point.
