Cookies and Other Signs of Life

Laughing hysterically in the grocery line, I was surprised when my father pulled me gently out of the way. "Go ahead, President Eyring. We only have two items." I kept laughing (a little less loudly) as I watched the apostle and his wife make their way good-naturedly in front of us, and was much relieved to know that they, too, enjoy chocolate-chip cookies.

My laughter returned when I realized that the two items we were buying at the moment were a bottle of cooking wine and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I just can't help but picture the world's cruelest drinking contest.

I took consolation in knowing that I'm not the only person who encounters General Authorities in less-than-dignified moments. My mother, apparently, spent an entire evening unknowingly on the other side of a booth from President Monson in an ice cream parlor, laughing hysterically whenever somebody said, "Sheep's head." (This wouldn't have been nearly so frequent an utterance, had her friends not already discovered the reaction it would trigger.)

The chocolate-chip cookies, I feel, are what saved me. They served as a small reminder to me: whether or not this man is on speaking terms with the Lord, he's still just as human as I am. Which leads me to wonder why I consider chocolate-chip cookies as an indicator of humanity. But I suppose that's a meditation for another day.