After running a bunch of errands today, I decided to give myself a little treat – it got me thinking about what we would have called special culinary treats when we were little. Here’s my list: Meatballs on Sunday night. Daddy cooked a huge pot of sauce and made meatballs almost every Sunday night (for pasta dinners twice that week). I used to love when Daddy let me help mix up the meatballs (a gooey combination of meat, spices, eggs, and bread crumbs, hand mixed). It was also our job to stir the sauce for hours on end – and heaven…
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I know, these days, the term “gamer” usually refers to a fan of electronic games, which I am not (just ask Ethan). But I’m a HUGE fan of games that require little more than a friendly face across a table and a favorite game board, or card deck, or dice set in between. Call me an old-fashioned gamer. Playing games is a highly companionable way to pass the time. An engaging game, nice table conversation, a few laughs, some tasty snacks… what more is needed for a good time? Figuring out strategy, deciding a best move, and arguing for a point is somehow both relaxing…
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I started my Christmas decorating today, and it got me thinking about Christmas memories. Daddy loved to decorate the house, and took great pride in whatever he created. When we were growing up, I remember him putting colored lights around the windows and doors, and always decorating the front door with paper and tinsel and other things, using a spotlight to show it off in all its glory. Daddy usually had charge of decorations at the VFW and at the Olde State Tavern, and he had a lot of fun with those as well. Later, in Maryland, Daddy and Mary…
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So here’s my all time favorite Thanksgiving story… When Mom and Dad were first married, Mom took great pride in preparing holiday meals. Dad’s only complaint was that she burned the onions when she made stuffing for turkey. Losing his patience, he finally asked her why she always burned the onions. Mom said that was the way her mother had always done it. So next time Dad got to see Grandmom, he asked her about it. “Mrs. B, Agnes says she leared to burn the onions from you – why do you think you have to burn the onions?” I can imagine…
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I come by my dislike of snakes naturally; Daddy didn’t like them either. Nonetheless, one of Daddy’s funniest stories was about a snake. Daddy’s misadventure with a snake happened when he was in an army training camp in the southwest somewhere. I always imagined a desert-like place with troops bivouacked in those big tents built on wooden platforms and outfitted with a half dozen or more bunks. Daddy didn’t like it there – it was too hot for him. As Daddy told it, he came slowly awake one night with the realization that there was a large, warm something laying across his forehead. …
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Today is All Saint’s Day, which to me has become a feast day for my parents. I was thinking a lot about them today. They say that a parent’s job is to give children roots and wings… and I think Mom and Dad did an admirable job with that charge. For roots, they gave me family, and love, and faith. For wings, I always felt they just wanted me to be happy. Roots… All of us will tell you we grew up knowing what family meant, and sticking by my siblings continues to be very important to me. Unconditional love…
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Friendship is what makes life happy. Friends love one another by choice, spend time together because they want to, talk, share, commiserate, laugh. In this hectic day and age, people come and go quickly, and holding on to real friends is hard. But if you’re lucky enough to find a friend, and keep that friendship going and going, that’s a gift beyond measure. Who else remembers the same events, laughs and cries at the same things, knows what you’re thinking before you do? “The greatest sweetener of human life is friendship.” – Joseph Addison My oldest and dearest friend is…
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I hate bugs. Especially the kind that fly at you. Yuk! And ones with more than four legs, but that’s another story. Back to the flying kind. I’m terrified of Japanese beetles because my Mom once told us that she had one fly in her ear when she was young and had to go to the hospital to have doctors get it out. That totally freaked me out. But again, that’s another story. This one is about big flying bugs. Specifically a white moth that made me almost cripple my brother, Tad. We were down the shore, and the parents…
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“School days, so they tell us, are the most sublime of our lives. We’ll have the time of our lives. It’s the absolute prime of our lives.” – Words from School Days from Goodbye Mr. Chips It’s that time of year when school is just beginning, so I thought I’d recall some memories from my own school days. This story is from my Nativity days (my Catholic grade school, Nativity BVM, Media). I won’t run on about all the snatches of memories from life at Nativity – okay, I can’t resist sharing just a few… Sr. Saint Lucille’s jingling keys, choir…
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I have to say, I’m not much of a fan of summer. Too hot, too humid, really don’t like to spend time outside. Even at the beach, I prefer the early morning hours and the time just before sunset. Still, I have lots of fond memories of summer when I was growing up. We spent almost every weekend down the shore at Grandmom and Grandad Balzer’s house – on Grove Point by the Chesapeake Bay. Until they retired, the beach house had no indoor plumbing if you can imagine that. Can you say outhouse? Ew! We were so glad when…