Tradelasts

…now he knew the whole thing wasn’t a figment of his imaginationNot long after the dinner party in the suburbs, the guest lost touch with the family that had invited him.

He had been warned they were a competitive bunch, that there were grudges and resentments among the four siblings and their spouses. A few of them could be expected to cross the line. No family is perfect.

It wasn’t the conversation or the food or even the generous selection of malt whiskeys that surprised him, it was what happened after the table was cleared.

The father of the clan, somewhere in his sixties, tapped his glass to get everyone’s attention. When they were quiet, he repeated something an acquaintance had said about his wife earlier that day. All eyes went to her. Even in the candlelight, the guest could see that she was blushing.

As the family sipped coffee and picked through chocolates, they took turns tapping their glasses and passing second-hand compliments around the table. These ‘tradelasts’ — that’s what the family called them — had an effect on everyone.

During the forty years since that evening, the guest has never heard the custom mentioned again, not even on Masterpiece Theatre.

He decided to search ‘tradelast’ online. There were only three vague mentions but now he knew that the whole thing wasn’t a figment of his imagination.

All of this has happened at just the right time. Things have turned ugly lately and, like a lot of Americans, he’s looking for something to hold on to.