Keegan was working quietly at the computer in the back room of their Victorian home when all of a sudden Jennifer rushed in to say hi to her husband.

“Hi honey!” She said with a big smile on her face.

“Hi babe” Keegan replied, not looking up from the monitor screen.

As the young man continued to read the morning news Jennifer began to play with the soft brown curls that adorned the back of his head. Keegan was used to this, she’d done it for years.

“Anything new or interesting this morning?” She asked.

“No, just more of the same…unemployment, crime and misery…” He replied sadly.

But they were both about to discover something very interesting indeed.

“Keegan, where are your earrings?” Jennifer asked as she rubbed his earlobe where the missing jewelry had been for 15 years.

He turned his head to face her as his fingers absently reached up to touch the same earlobe that she had just felt.

“I don’t… know!” He answered slowly.

“Well, they’re sure gone! Both of them!” Jennifer marveled.

“How bizarre is that! Where the heck did they go?” Keegan asked, totally bewildered.

“You couldn’t have lost them…not two hoops. They were so hard to put in, remember?” Jennifer asked as she checked her husband’s shocked face.

“Oh, yeah! I remember alright! It felt like you were ripping my ear off when you put them in! He said with a wince. But they’re sure gone!”

The couple just looked at each other. Keegan kept reaching up to rub his earlobe.

“I didn’t find them in bed when I made it up…and anyway, if the blanket had somehow pulled them out you’d certainly have felt it!” Jennifer stated matter-of-factly.

“Boy, that’s for sure! … The only other possibility is that your mom took them out while you were asleep.” Jennifer offered.

Keegan didn’t answer right away. His brain was trying to digest what she’d just said first.

“But how could she do that without waking me up?”

Now Jennifer didn’t answer immediately but rather shot a stunned look at her naïve husband.

“Keegan, how can she make the doorbell ring when there aren’t any batteries in it?

How can she ring it at all since she’s dead? … How could she have found your work shorts the summer that she died and place them on top of your chest-of-drawers? … How could she have lit all the candles in the family room after we found Hennessy dying?

Now you’re asking how she could take your earrings out while you’re asleep without waking you up? …Do you hear yourself?” Jennifer couldn’t believe his question.

His mother had repeatedly proven her presence over and over again to both of them during the five years since her death and yet Keegan seemed unable to comprehend it all.

“That’s just incredible! … I know you’re right, there’s no other explanation for it but why in the world did she take my earrings out? …They’ve always been there and she’s never bothered them before…”

“Well, you’ve never gotten a job with a major trucking company like this before, either, honey. Maybe she’s thinking that they’d look unprofessional and knew that you wouldn’t think so, so, she did the mother thing and took them out!”

That had to be it…there was no other explanation…

“And you didn’t find them anywhere in bed when you made it up?” He asked.

“No, Keegan, I didn’t. Go up and take a look for yourself…”

“No, I believe you…and besides, there’s no way any living person could’ve taken them out without waking me…”

“But I wore earrings when you and I worked for the van lines and we hauled the same kind of loads, so, I don’t get it…”

“But honey, you wore studs then…now you’re wearing hoops…maybe she thinks they look unprofessional…”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right… they really are, I hadn’t thought about it until now.”

Now silence overcame them both as each thought about their situation.

“It still creeps me out…even though I know it’s my mom doing it and why…” Keegan shivered.

“Well, one thing’s for sure…it’s never boring around here…” Jennifer said with a smile.