A SWEET STORY ABOUT ITALIAN COOKIES...

This is for all the Italians  out there, and those who are lucky enough to be 
married to an Italian,
and  even to all friends of  Italians.
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An  elderly Italian man lay in his bed close to death.  Through his 
suffering,  he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite Italian anisette sprinkle 
cookies  wafting up the stairs.  He gathered his remaining strength and lifted  
himself off the bed.  Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out  of 
the bedroom.  Summoning his last reserves of strength and gripping the  stair 
railing with both hands, he crawled slowly downstairs.  With labored  breath, 
he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen.  Had he  not been 
in such agony, he would have thought himself already in  heaven.   For there, 
spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table  were literally hundreds of 
his favorite anisette sprinkle cookies.

Was he  in heaven?  Or was this one final act of love from his devoted 
Italian wife  of sixty years, making
certain that he left this world a happy  man?

Mustering one great final effort, he launched himself towards the  table, 
landing painfully on his knees.  His parched lips parted; the  wondrous taste of 
the cookie was already in his mouth, almost bringing him back  to life.  As 
his aged, withered hand trembled its way to the nearest  cookie, it was suddenly 
smacked hard by his wife's spatula.

"Get outta  here!" she shouted.  "They're for the funeral!"