As per my usual, I am a little late wishing all of you dads a Happy Father’s Day. Hope it was very special for all of you. I was included in my daughter’s family celebration at noon. Then I came home early and had a great, long nap. (I thought I was reading the Sunday Journal Gazette!)
Last week brought a special, magic moment to my life which made me do some serious thinking. Hope I do not bore you with minute details but I hope it will inspire you to mentally recapture the special moments in your life.
I walked to the post office with a few letters to mail. My white hair was showing and I went in to the counter to ask if the Times was late, or perhaps my subscription had lapsed. (It was close.) Dawn, who is especially nice to me, very graciously and patiently explained that it was Friday and there is no paper on Friday! To cover my embarrassment and change the subject, I asked her about the new Postmaster. She pleasantly told me that he was in the back room and asked if I wanted to meet him. That was fine with me, but why would he want to meet ME? Before I could rationalize the situation and make a decision, she had called him to the front counter. There were no other patrons in the office and we had a pleasant chat. Upon hearing my age, he asked me what was the most memorable moment in my life. I have had so many magic ones, but memorable?! This made me do a lot of deep thinking. First, I consulted the word memorable and found it meant “worth remembering”. Now that opened up a great canvas in my memories. But how would you pick one that overshadowed the rest?
So I have decided to go back through my lifetime and mention some highlights. Before I started school, my mother sent me to the basement to get two quarts of home canned tomatoes. I tripped over the end of a homemade bin which held our yearlong supply of home grown potatoes. Consequently, one jar broke in my arms. I still have a scar where my mother poured vinegar on the wound, tore strips of clean white cloth from an old sheet and tied it around my arm. Think what would happen today and how much it would cost.
Another time worth remembering would be the years I spent in a one room country school with 25 kids, one teacher who taught all eight grades and all subjects, no electricity, and a wood heating stove where she had to be at school early enough to have the room warm when we arrived. (Would you believe we had almost no discipline problems?)
Another great experience was moving to Edgerton, when I was a sophomore, in 1940, where I began to dissolve a bad case of inferiority complex. Here I was, the middle daughter of a family of seven kids, growing up in the early depression years with nothing but necessities and the love and guidance of special parents. (Guess that made me rich!) My new classmates accepted me and made me feel that I was worth more than I thought. Graduation from high school brought my first job at Fisher’s implement store as bookkeeper, where I made a whole 25 cents an hour.
A memorable moment was our senior trip where I went on my first airplane ride at Put-In-Bay in an open cockpit plane. I was with the boy who later became my husband. We were both lucky that I did not kill him for talking me into going on that plane ride because we had a great marriage with a “bunch” of memorable kids.
During my marriage I had a few memorable trips that became extra special after his untimely, sudden early death. For our 25th anniversary, we spent five days in Hawaii. Later we flew to Alaska and met my brother and his wife who drove there. This was an unbelievable experience for anyone on our economic level. We also went on a wagon-train trip in the Teton Mountains with a number of relatives. After Johnny’s death, I went on a six week trip when relatives drove to Alaska, came home through the Rocky Mountains. camped along the Pacific Ocean, toured the Red Wood Forest, and arrived home safely - broke but very happy.
Pride is one of the seven corporal sins, but guess I am guilty of my enjoyment and pride of my job as the bookkeeper at the elevator for 19 years. I still miss “my farmers”!
Following my retirement, I had the exciting experience for 16 years as a volunteer aide at the elementary school, most of the years with Mrs. Glore. A special memory passes by when I remember any of those students when they are mentioned in The Earth.
I must mention my memorable years of writing Magic Moments (for nearly 24 years) after my original goal of doing it for ONE year. Thanks for the encouragement of many of you readers. With a host of grandkids and greats, attending their weddings as a special guest, and receiving special attention from many of them, how can I pick out the “most memorable” one? I am sure that some that I thought of when I could not sleep a few nights ago did not come to mind today. but it made me realize how fortunate I have been and still am.
There were some negative moments to overcome like the death of my baby brother at 31, my mother’s death when I was 16, and my husband's death at the young age of 57, which I thought I could not handle, but God gives us the resources to deal with those tragedies.
Hope this jars your memory so you can, like I did, see that LIFE and GOD ARE GOOD. Also, stop in to see Chris at the Post Office. Help him see that Edgerton is a great place.
Now shall we go to the kitchen and fix something to eat? How about a strawberry and a peach simple recipe? They are both seasonal in the store. It is a little early for me to trust the peaches. I want one to eat, then if I like it go back and get quite a few. I was not impressed with the first ones. Hard as rocks and six in a package for over five dollars! Things will get better, I am sure.
STRAWBERRY PIE
1 graham cracker crust
1 package (3 oz.) strawberry Jello
2/3 cup boiling water
2 cups ice cubes
1 carton (8 oz.) whipped topping
1 cup sliced strawberries
Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add ice cubes. Stir until ice melts and Jello thickens. Blend whipped topping into Jello. Fold in strawberries. Chill until mixture will mound. Spoon into crust. Chill at least 2 hours. Top with whipped topping, if desired.
PEACH YOGURT PIE
1 can (8 ¾ oz.) sliced peaches
2 containers (8 oz.) fruit flavored yogurt
1 carton (8 oz.) whipped topping
Buttered graham cracker crumbs
Combine fruit and yogurt. Fold in whipped topping. Blend well. Spoon into graham cracker crust. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs, if desired. Freeze for about 4 hours. Remove from freezer 30 minutes before serving.
Remember to count your blessings daily.
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