short story

a young man moves away from home. his mother did not know at the time but he was rooming with a young woman who was close to his age. the mother then comes for dinner. as they eat he tells her all about his new roommate and assures her that they are just roommates and they stay in their own beds. the mother does not say much about it and soon goes back home. the next day his roommate can not find the gravy dish that belongs to her and starts to wonder if his mother could have passably taken it. he tells her that is a crazy idea and there is no way his mother would do such a thing. well the roommate says that maybe so but the fact is as it was here before she came, and  it is not anymore. so the young man writes his mother. "mom he says i'm not saying you took it, but the gravy dish is gone and the fact remains that it was here before you came and now is missing. a few weeks go by and he gets a letter from his mother that reads, "son, i'm not saying you are sleeping with your roommate but the fact remains that if she was in her own bed at night she would have found the gravy dish i hid there".

ah the wisdom of parents. much like the wisdom of our holy father and we think we pull the wool over his eyes but they see right through us over and over.