Meatball Mystery by Susan L.

  There's a pot luck lunch followed by a meeting after church tomorrow. There's a pound of hamburger defrosted in the fridge to make meatballs with. Everybody likes meatballs. I recently learned how to cook them in the oven so it takes a fraction of the time it used to. Gone are the days when they were frying pan browned before being added to a recipe.
  My personal favorite is sweet and sour. Meatball stew comes a close second. Then there's the idea of doing a pasta and meatball casserole. Whatever choice made means a trip to the grocery store because the pantry is rather bare of meal making accessories.
  I'll make it today, heat it up tomorrow morning before going to church, then toss it into the crock pot. That way it'll stay hot for lunch.
  Whenever I make or eat sweet and sour meatballs it reminds me of when I was bitten by a dog, a Black Lab. It was going for my throat and missed. The dog's quick slash and grab resulted in seventeen stitches around my upper and lower lips.
  My mom made the meatballs for dinner. Too sore to open my mouth wide enough to eat them, I mashed up the meatballs until they were small enough to fit up a straw. I only had a couple because it was a lot of work for little reward but my, oh, my they were tasty!
 The doctor who sewed me up consulted with a plastic surgeon before he began so he did a fine job. I am thankful the bite healed with a barely noticeable scar. Even so, and here's an added benefit to aging, the older I get, the more wrinkled I get, the more it disappears. 
  That was a long time ago and it lead to teaching my yet to be stepdaughter and stepson what to do in the event of a dog attack. We had them curling up into a ball to protect their necks and faces. I wonder if they remember?
  For a long time, I had issues with big dogs. I am still not comfortable around Black Labs even though I've met plenty of nice ones.
  Thinking about dogs always brings to mind my Duke or Doofus as he was lovingly nicknamed. A massive, hundred and twenty pounds of floppy eared, German Shepherd with the sweetest disposition. I am always surprised at how much I miss him still, a decade after he was laid to rest.
  And that's enough melancholy memories. Time to get into some meatball manufacturing.
  "All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." Jn 10:8-9