Hey Gang,
I should actually be sleeping now, but my mind is drifting. I am catching up on e-mail and reflecting on life. I was re-reading Pnst's vacation story (which I enjoyed very much) and got to thinking when she described how they all ate at the family restaurant and how they all went to bed on a "full and happy tummy." A full and happy tummy... For some reason, it reminded me of a time when we had just stopped by a friend's house and we were visiting and chatting at the kitchen table and partaking in some snacks (mostly so as not to offend our hosts!). For some reason, the moments sticks in my mind when he said, "Have something to eat ... no one is going to go hungry in this house." I don't think I can do justice trying to describe the look in that man's eyes. Suffice it to say, there was a real seriousness about the moment... a memorable experience... I can still see it just as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. It wasn't until later, when we had gotten back home, that my wife explained a little history to help me understand what I had witnessed there. You see, when he was a kid, their family did not have much money, and they actually lived in a chicken coupe for a while. Seems to me there must have been quite a few meals that were very slim or non-existent when he was growing up.
I never experienced that, (thank God), when I was growing up. We were a middle class family, like most families, trying to stretch the budget to make ends meet. My parents made sure that there was always enough to eat. My mother used to say, "Eat what you need, we can always buy more. I don't care how much you take, just make sure you can eat it..." From the size of the water glasses my brother and I used to drink milk, it amazes me that my parents could afford to feed us! I must have eaten like it was going out of style!!!
To end this rather serious note on the lighter side... I remember one time when my Mother had brought groceries home and we were putting them away. The "fridge" was full of milk and my Dad was trying to find a place in the fridge to put the beer he had gotten so that it would be nice and cold when he wanted to drink it. Getting a little frustrated, he asked my Mother where he could put it... she replied, "Just take a gallon or two of milk out of the fridge, then it will fit!" My Dad must have thought she was serious, because he started to take out some milk to fit in the beer...LOL...
Sometimes these days, when we are eating as a family (which does not happen often enough!) I think of how lucky I am to be able to provide food for my kids, clothes for them to wear, a safe bed for them to sleep in, and the never-ending "stream of toys" for them to play with. It is the kind of thing that you don't think much about as a kid... and I guess that is the way it should be.
An early Thanksgiving for me,
HYSD :)
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." - unknown
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