A Safe Bet

Shortly before Everett was scheduled to make his appearance, his mommy dined with his daddy, grandma, granddad, Aunts Amy and Ginger, Uncle Jimmy, and Cousin Donnie at a Chinese restaurant. When the meal concluded, a waitress emerged from the kitchen baring a tray of fortune cookies for the family. She placed one on the napkin of Everett’s mommy, went to move on, but then turned back, patted Everett from the outside and offered another cookie to his mommy. “For the baby,” she explained in broken English. Everett’s mommy cracked open the cookie and listened as Everett’s daddy read the fortune aloud, “Sometimes change is not only a part of life, but is even necessary for life.” Everett’s mommy had read enough hokey messages inside her cookies to avoid putting any stock in their mass produced wisdom, however, she couldn’t help marveling at the appropriateness of Everett’s very first fortune.