Vanthana's Thai Spice
He is throwing out Vanthana's things! She says, "He won't give me my Thai Spice." I come to understand, that's not a box of pepper she means. It's a collection of spices built up over 20 years of cooking. Herbs and things from Thailand, this and that. He threw a bunch of it away already!
Sometimes, Vanthana's life is too much flashback. My favorite 3' high terra cotta urn was thrown out, and my red, white, and blue beads, because they were on his desk, and who knows how many personal things besides these were intentionally thrown away over the years? It makes me sad.
Vanthana's Thai Spice becomes my crusade. For no reason, Vanthana is in his house again, and I urge her to "toss that Thai Spice out the window! Throw a bag over the fence, and I'll come and get it!"
"He built a fence ten, twelve feet high."
"What?"
"Uh-huh, Johnny do, between him and Christine!"
"Well... OK then. You pack them up, then I come to the door, ding-dong, you open the door and hand them to me, and I run off!" She giggles.
I want to rescue Vanthana's Thai Spice. Possessions should not be thrown away without permission. Sometimes things fall into the trash by accident. If the trash is next to a table, things fall in. But things should never be thrown away on purpose.
He has already thrown away a lot, she says. He told her he threw them away "because they were open." He knows better. He knows how much her Thai Spice means to her.
Vanthana needs her Thai Spice.
I need Vanthana's Thai Spice.
Edited to add: Vanthana's Thai Spices have been rescued, even the ones he supposedly threw away! They were dusty in the basement, and all those Thai Spices are here in my cupboard, and Vanthana can cook with them any time she wants. Yay!