Ammi

Mother we call Ammi and she winces every time there’s a curse word on the t.v. Winces, like a you-walk-up-and-pretend-to-throw-something-at-her-head wince.

It’s visceral. 

She is not faking this.

Strange that a woman so smart so strong can be all but taken out by a single “damn”.

Once, in their home, I saw Abbu watching “Die Hard”. Ammi appeared nearly epileptic. And on Thanksgiving this year, Abbu flipping through channels on the t.v. said, “Hey, look: ‘Django Unchained’!” but we all talked him down from it, barely.

We laughed and laughed about it, too, but wow: How I wish the power of words could set off physical reactions in me.