Page 37 of Lorna's Savior
“Are you close?”
“Yeah, we are.”
“Why does that seem like a surprise to you?”
“The last two days have been an eye opener for me.” He paused as he removed the hot potatoes, checked the steaks, then moved them to a platter. They sat down and filled their plates. As they did that, he continued, “Growing up, I was embarrassed of my family. I am the oldest of five kids. There’s me, my two brothers, then my two sisters. After Mac was born, Mom decided to save money and try to make her own soap and shampoo. She and Dad have always been health conscious. Not vegan or vegetarian, but they’d watch their sodium levels, and their carbs, limit red meat to twice a week. Stuff like that. But, when it came to soap for personal use, and for the laundry, they became fanatics about all the chemicals they read in the ingredients in the commercially made products. I think that stemmed from the fact that Ren had an allergic reaction to the laundry soap once.”
“What are your siblings names?”
“Mom is Sunshine, Dad is Levi. There’s me, then there’s Ren, Max, Pip, and Liv.” Andy used their nicknames, not wanting to tell Lorna yet about their real weird names. He’d save that for a later date, when he knew she wouldn’t toss him out on his ass for having such a fucked-up first name.
“What happened next?”
“It took some trial and error, but Mom had made a body soap with lemongrass in it. She had just come from the doctor with Ren, and he had written at least three prescriptions for creams and antibiotics to help with the hives. Mom was determined that she could do a better job than all those chemicals. She had dad do the extensive research into the different herbs, and their uses. Armed with that information, she made her own coconut oil and lemongrass soap. That night they returned from the doctor, she used it on Ren for his bath. I believe he was five at the time, or thereabouts. I remember it was the summer time and he hadn’t started school yet. She bathed him twice a day in that soap for a week, then went down to once a day. When she went back to the doctor, the first thing he said was that he was shocked the creams he had prescribed worked so well. Mom never filled them. She even handed the prescriptions back to him.”
“Wow, what did the doctor say then?”
“He asked what mom had used, and she told him that she made her own soap. Gave him the list of ingredients, and it turned out within the next six months, the doctor asked Mom to make some bars of that same type of soap for some of his patients. I believe that’s how they got started inPure Sunshine.”
“Let me guess, the name pure is because all the ingredients they use are pure, and natural, no chemicals involved. And Sunshine for your mother’s name?”
“Yes, and it was actually Ren’s doctor that mentioned the name to his patients. And it stuck.”
“Wow. I’ve never been to their physical store, but I order online all the time. They have such an array of products.”
“They do. When I stopped in, I hadn’t been home for several years. I had about five minutes to catch up before they threw me behind the counter to run the register. Because I knew nothing about the products, they thought that would be a safe place for me. My two brothers happened to be in from Colorado, where they own two different stores ofPure Sunshine, and Pip drove down from college, because Ren and Mac were in town. She didn’t know about me until she arrived home.” He rose up on his hip and pulled his phone out. After accessing some photos, he handed his phone over to her. “This is my family,” he said proudly. After taking a bite of steak, he leaned in to see what picture she was looking at.
“The couple in the front are Mom and Dad. On either side of them are Liv, and Pip. As you can see, I’m in the middle in the back. This is Ren, this is Mac.”
“It’s a beautiful family.”
“Thank you.” Andy took his phone back and grinned. “Now do you understand when I say the girls kept me up all night? We all actually kept each other up. Because it had been so long since I’d been home, we had a lot of catching up to do.”
“Will you go back again?”
“I will, but not to stay. I enjoy my life here. Though I love my family with all my heart, and I finally understand what they do for a living, I could never get into it, especially after learning what my two brothers are doing over in Colorado.” He shook his head several times. “I still can’t seem to wrap my head around it.”
“Talk to me while we clean up.”
Chapter 15
Andy looked at Lorna in shock when he realized his plate was completely empty. He hadn’t even realized he’d been eating as he discussed his family. That was what he was beginning to love about her. She was so easy to talk to. After standing and taking his plate to the sink, he looked at her, and said, “You take care of the food, I’ll wash up.” He did as he said, and in less than ten minutes, everything was done. Grabbing another beer, they went into the living room and settled on the couch.
“So, what are your brothers doing?”
“Have you heard of CBD?”
“Isn’t that the stuff that’s all the new rage and it’s made from marijuana?”
“Yes, or thereabouts. I don’t know all the particulars, and I’m not sure if I want to. But besides owning acres and acres of land that they grow their herbs on, and other things for the products that the team in Colorado makes forPure Sunshine, Ren has contacted the federal government.”
“Why?”
“Because they decided to go the legal route and grow legal marijuana, and they have a dispensary that sells medical marijuana and everything that is associated with it.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning everything CBD. Pain pills, drops, sprays, whatever it entails. Bear in mind, that this is in addition to everything they sell with thePure Sunshinelogo. My only concern is that though it’s legal to sell in Colorado, it’s still considered illegal by the federal government. It’s legal on the state level. So, being the pessimist that I am, I can only see headaches in the future for my brothers.”
