Food Shows

Long ago, there used to be these venues called Food Shows. I think Big Y was the sponsor of most of them. They would be held at large facilities like convention centers and it would be filled with mostly booths of free samples of food. Some you ate little bites there, other prepackaged samples you could take home. There were some items you could buy there, but not many. You could also get a lot of coupons, which I was into at that time and recipes.

You could have a meal on the free samples, and it was fun going from a new chicken nugget to a bite of ham, a piece of cheese, a small piece of cake or tiny taste of ice cream and on and on. I cannot begin to remember all the various foods they had and I'm surprised our stomachs didn't reject all the mixed-up choices we ate!

It was a wandering buffet, and we had a good time. Now it did get a little chaotic at times as some people wandered from one booth and skipped others and then went to a different booth seeming to cut in front of those stopping at everything. There were pet food or baby food booths, that some would obviously skip over. It added a little confusion as people slipped in and out of the unofficial line. For the most part everyone was polite but it was difficult for people with strollers to navigate the unruliness.

I said for the most part people were polite. I remember an incident when I may have been considered "cutting in line" or maybe these older teenage girls were trying to get in front of me. Those details I don't really remember, but I do remember the one who said, "Let fatty go," referring to me. Ouch. I didn't say a word. The words hurt. It was no secret to me that I was overweight, but to be referred to like that was pretty cruel and hurtful. 

I don't remember how long those words echoed in my head and continued to cause pain. It did hurt for a while, and I never told George or anyone about it (until now). I did eventually forget all about it. As we were talking about the food shows and remembering, as we always do, a funny incident that happened, this buried memory also resurfaced. I am glad to say, it doesn't hurt any more. It's too bad her words didn't motivate me to lose weight, but such things often have an opposite effect. I wonder how that girl turned out. I could picture her the type to suffer from road rage. I hope she learned to be kinder as life went on. 

I have two applications to God's word in my food show memories. For this part, I am glad that memory was buried, and I am so thankful that God does the same for us. When we ask for forgiveness, our sins are buried and forgotten. He will not ever dig them up again. "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

I will leave on the funnier memory of food shows. I have to say that most of the sample size foods you could just pop in your mouth. Sometimes a toothpick was holding it and there was a place to dispose of them. The kids were with us at this particular food show, and they were familiar with fruit roll ups. For those of you who are not, they are a thin layer of a fruit flavored snack rolled up in plastic to keep it from sticking together, hence called fruit roll-ups. Kids knew how to unroll the plastic to eat the treat. Kids knew. Moms knew. 

These roll-ups had been cut into smaller sample sizes. Not being aware of how to eat a roll-up, George popped the whole thing in his mouth! We were not aware of this, and one of our kids asked him, "How did you like the fruit roll-up?" He replied, "It was ok, but kind of plasticky tasting." Of course, they told him he was supposed to take the plastic off while laughing hysterically--a simple moment at the food show turned into a lasting fun family memory to bring to mind at times and still makes us laugh years later. George will even joke when he doesn't like the taste of something, "It tastes like plastic" to bring a smile and sharing a secret memory. I wonder, though, if people eating plastic was why they stopped having food shows. 

My application to this would be to remind you that you can have a Bible, but you get so much more out of it if you take the plastic off and open it up and read it. You might find a fruit flavor that you enjoy. Leaving you with God's word:  "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:2.

Ups and Downs of Life Reflection #26

My husband used to have his own cleaning business. He had commercial accounts that he cleaned when they were closed so he didn't have specific hours he had to be there. His schedule varied and I didn't always know exactly what account he was cleaning, or if he had to run to the hardware store for more supplies or if he had stopped by our rental units to check on something. There were a number of reasons why he could be running late. He typically called when he was twenty minutes away so I could be sure dinner was ready for him. On Fridays it was usually around 7 pm unless he decided to do some Saturday night work too, but he was still usually home by 8 pm. 

On this particular December night, I had thought he had said he would be home by 7 pm. As the hands on the clock kept getting further away from 7 pm, I decided to call his cell phone. No answer. I had cooked one of his favorite dinners and I was trying to keep it warm. By 8 pm I figured he wouldn't mind if I ate without him. He would have to reheat his in the microwave at this point. Maybe he had stopped at a fast-food place and wouldn't even need dinner. That happened on rare occasions. 

As the minutes ticked on, I started getting a little nervous. I tried calling several times more and still no answer. At 9 pm I decided it was time to take action and track him down. I believed he had to be at one of two accounts, one I didn't even know how to get there and had to look up the address. I decided to start at the one I knew.

All the horrible thoughts started passing through my mind--a heart attack or fallen and broken something and couldn't move to get to the phone, a car accident. He could have left the cell phone in the car, which he has done a few times. Maybe his car broke down and he was freezing somewhere. Or maybe he left me. Well, that was just a fleeting thought that snuck in there. 

My imagination kept feeding itself. My mind was running out of room from the dirt piles of all the rabbit trails it was going down. I didn't know whether to be nervous or angry at him. I thought if the worst happened, people would come to the house and it was a mess. Well, I couldn't tidy now, I had to save him--if he needed saving. Aren't you glad you can't see all my thoughts all the time?

It was a freezing night and I was shaking from the cold and maybe my nerves too. As I drove in the dark, I tried to see the vehicles going past me in the opposite direction to see if he was heading home. I know the shape of his car, but was trying to remember the license number as those reflected in the dark. Nothing looked familiar. It was about twenty minutes before I reached the first account that I was going to try. There was his car!

I looked in the windows of the building. I saw his coat, but not him. The doors were locked and I knocked and yelled. These were heavy duty windows and doors and a huge building, so it was not likely he would hear that. I walked all around the building and tried all doors and looked in all windows as best I could stepping on the crusty snow. 

Next I drove my car as close to the door as I could and honked and honked my horn hoping he would hear and come. 

Finally I called 911. I did it as a last resort because I didn't want to be reprimanded for calling 911 for a non-emergency if he was just cleaning. 

They arrived in less than five minutes without sirens. They asked me if he had any medical issues. I told them and also told them that I remembered there had been issues with the elevator in the building. 

They tried pounding on all the doors and checking all windows, as I had. The fire department was also on their way and an employee of the building with a key. Before they all arrived, the police were able to get in through a window. 

As soon as the cop went in he yelled George's name and he heard the elevator buzzer. He had been stuck in the elevator--for FOUR hours!! The fireman and employee arrived. There were instructions in the office and a key to some panel to free up the elevator stuck between floors.

George should tell his view of this story...his cell phone didn't work in the elevator; the emergency call box didn't have a phone; the emergency buzzer is internal, so no one was in the building to hear it. He even tried to spell out Morse Code with it. He had no fear of a city black out or the end of the world, as my mind surely would have gone. He did have light in the elevator and he did hear the furnace kick on but he was starting to get cold in his t-shirt. He had his cleaning equipment and garbage barrel with him. He tried to wrap garbage bags around him for warmth. He figured the worst-case scenario would be that he would be there until 9 am the next morning, so he tried to turn his roll of paper towels into a pillow. There was no way to get really comfortable. He actually did have a book with him, so he was able to pass the time reading, but he was hungry too.

George and the police tried to make me a hero. I mean do they really think I would have gone to bed and not wonder or worry where he was? Who wouldn't go out looking for their husband/wife in that case? I didn't feel like a hero at all. I told him if he had "pulled a Tiger Woods", who was in the media for cheating on his wife, that I would hunt him down like tonight. He said, "Sure and where would you look first?" I said that I'd call up his boss for his other part time job and find out all the names of his elderly dial-a-ride customers. We laughed.

After that when George cleaned that account, he put the vacuum and trash barrel in the elevator and let them ride the elevator by themselves while he took the stairs. Surprisingly, this didn't sour him to elevators in general, as it would probably have done to me, but then again, how often are we in buildings with no one else in it? 

Although it may not sound that way, I tried to keep my cool and despite the bad thoughts creeping in, I tried to think optimistically too, but nowhere as calm and collected as George was. I know I would not have reacted so calmly if it had been claustrophobic me in the elevator. I leave you with God's word that George practiced that night: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

This happened in 2009

Feathered Friends Reflection #25

My parents loved birds and had a long wooden bird feeder outside their sunroom windows. The windows cranked open and they did their best to keep it constantly well-stocked with wild bird seed and the coveted sunflower seeds which always went first.

They always enjoyed the variety of birds who came to their "restaurant" and purchased a book to identify the new patrons. This live action entertainment never ceased to bring enjoyment. It was exciting to see a new visitor and to research the identity. 

My mom's brother lived with us for a while. Uncle Jack was 10 years older than me, and I loved having him live with us (except when I had to wake him--he was so grouchy!) I always remember the day we shared a secret for a couple of minutes. Mom was out on the deck and heard a bird and she echoed his sound. He chirped back. She did too and so did he. This went on several times until I realized that Uncle Jack was the mysterious bird calling back. He motioned me to "not let the cat out of the bag". It went on for a couple of minutes this way, a truly remarkable moment for mom until she finally caught on. She gave him a punch in the arm for teasing her as we laughed. 

My parents had cats and dogs over the years and the dogs were so special to them. Then one day, a neighbor wanted to thank them for all they did and gave my parents a bird. This broke two of my Mom's cardinal rules (pun intended). She said you never give a person a pet for a gift. It is a lifelong commitment, and the person should make that decision themself. One of her other gift giving rules was don't ever give anything that will cost a person more--like buying them a cell phone, for instance, because they would now have a monthly bill. Both are wise rules and this broke both of those rules. 

I guess some rules are ok to be broken. Much as my parents loved watching the wild birds, they never thought about having a pet bird...until the first one. They loved those pet birds over the years. They let them fly free around the house until bedtime. One sat on my Dad's shoulder when he played the piano. They even took them--cages and all--to Cape Cod on vacation. One year my Mom broke her hip while on vacation at the Cape and had to go to the hospital and rehab there. Their rental week was over at the house and Dad had to find a motel that would accept birds.

It also was always a family tradition when arriving or leaving the Cape, to stop and feed the ducks at the pond in East Sandwich, MA. And of course, the seagulls did not lack attention too.

Another bird they loved was "Homer", a goose at Stanley Park in Westfield where they used to go for walks. Back in those days people did not frown upon giving bread to the ducks and geese and they would buy day old bread precisely for feeding birds. When they arrived, Dad would call for Homer and he would come running over to them. Homer walked with Dad all the while they were there.

Birds were an important part in my parents' lives and God must feel the same way about all the birds he created in different colors, shapes, sizes and with different birdsongs. Birds are mentioned in the bible nearly 300 times. I am sure God was pleased with my parents' love and tender care for birds. I leave you with God's word: "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" Luke 12:6-7.

Birds at the Cape Cod house.

Valuing Others Reflection #24

"Wow, you people sure are fat." That could be the greeting we got whenever we visited my great aunt. She did not hold back anything or if she did, I'm glad we didn't know what she was really thinking! We always braced ourselves for the inevitable blunt remarks she would make. My husband appreciated her honesty despite being reminded of his hair loss and weight gain. 

As any grandmother, she loved her grandchildren, but it always felt like she was comparing them to our children. You can't compete with walking on water. But maybe she was just so proud and not comparing. She was good to us too.

Besides remembering her bluntness, I will never, ever forget her love for her chihuahuas. One I remember was named Tammy. Although proper in so many ways, Aunt Helen didn't see any problem with holding Tammy in her lap at the dinner table and letting her eat off of her plate. It was not a pleasant experience for us, but who are we to say something to our elder?

We always remember her birthdate, 12/12/12. It was the same year the Titanic sank and Fenway Park opened. 

Her husband was so fun. Uncle Bill would rib her and was always yanking her chain. It felt like he was always testing his limits. We loved him. Only he could say those things to her. I don't know if she didn't hear him half the time or chose to ignore him. We wondered if it was discussed after we left, but I think not because he would do it again next time and they remained married for 62 years. We tried to hold our laughter until the ride home and then we would recall his words and bust out laughing--finally able to let it out. 

I know there was some bad history between my Mom and her aunt, but Mom still visited her or had her over. She would try to do nice things for her aunt, like searching for a particular beanie baby, or giving her cuttings from her house plants. She prepared a lot of food and tried to make things special when she visited. When Aunt Helen came she would often comment on something of Mom's that she would like and inevitably Mom would give it to her. The older I got, this used to anger me. I know Mom had some pretty unhappy memories about this woman, why would she just give her anything she wanted? My Dad said it was because she had so little family left, which was true. She felt obligated to keep the remaining ties. I give my mom deep respect for that.

I did keep writing to Aunt Helen after Mom had passed. We attended her 100th birthday party. She lived to be 104, outliving her husband who was thirteen years younger, and outliving my mom.  At 100 she told me she didn't have a pain in her body--not even a headache. She did have macular degeneration. But how pathetic I feel at my age with my aches and pains. Perhaps I need to be blunter with my words...would that help me not to have aches and pains and to live long?

Or was it her eating habits. Though if I had a dog eat off my plate, I wouldn't eat much! Aunt Helen cooked the good old recipes with lots of butter and rich foods. Every Saturday night was hot dogs and Boston baked beans, I am told. Tomato sausage was a favorite and being British, everything was fried. 

The difference was when Aunt Helen was offered a piece of cake, or pie or anything for that matter, she would say, "I'll have a sliver." You would hold the knife and she would say, "smaller" and you'd move it and she'd say, "smaller", until was maybe an inch thick. She would not deprive herself of anything but always had a tiny bit of everything. We now refer to very small pieces as an "Aunt Helen sliver". That must be how she remained a petite woman all her life, never a problem with weight and lived a long, healthy life. 

I surely don't mean any disrespect to my great aunt's memory; it is all true from our viewpoint. I am sure she would agree with it all, but I wouldn't have had the courage to say it to her face! I am not like her, but a takeaway lesson here is about relationships. My uncle pushed the limits, and he must have known the cutoff point. As for the rest of us, we tried to be respectful. But the biggest lesson is from my Mom. Despite everything, Mom would not only respect her aunt, but give to her again and again, even at times, things she didn't really plan on parting with. I leave you with God's words that exemplify my Mom and I hope I can do the same: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, Rather in humility value others above yourselves."  Philippians 2:3 

Worth quoting Reflection #23

I think it starts early...the familiar quotes we like to repeat, "What's up doc?", "I twat I twa a puddy cat!?", "Suffering succotash." From cartoons to books, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", "To be or not to be, that is the question", (side note as an only child with time on my hands in the summer months, I memorized that soliloquy for the fun of it), "Call me Ishmael", "Quoth, the raven, nevermore." etc. Songs always leave us with words that we easily commit to memory and cherish in our hearts. And of course, there are movie quotes: "Show me the money!", "You had me at hello.", "E.T. phone home", "My Captain, My Captain", and on and on. They all invoke a fond memory of a special film. Do you have a favorite? Mine that still gives me goosebumps from Camelot referring to the young boy: "Now run Sir Tom, behind the lines." 

How easy it is for us to quote these words. It has been noted that there are many quotes that for some reason, we continually quote incorrectly, for example: "May the force be with you", was actually: "Remember the force will be with you always." I actually like the original quote better in that case. 

You might be surprised how many quotes you know by heart from the Bible without even realizing it. There are some of the commandments like "Thou shalt not kill." "Thou shalt not steal." There is the golden rule, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Is there anyone who does not recognize, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want"? Or how many weddings have you been to that quote: "Love is patient, love is kind...". There are so many verses worth quoting in the Bible and some of us do try to memorize some ("thy word have I hid in my heart"). The heart of the Bible is "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Like the movie quotes, sometimes we may not get the words 100% accurate, but as long as we get the gist and don't change the meaning, it is good to recall these words as easily and meaningfully as movie or book quotes. My life verse is found in Colossians 3:23, 24. The picture is of a plaque I have in my bedroom to remind me of how to focus my thoughts. Even my shower curtain is decorated with Bible verses on it. May you have Bible quotes that give you comfort and guidance that easily come to mind and if you don't with some research online, you can find some awesome ones. 

I leave you with God's word: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16.

The Dead Cat Reflection #22

I don't normally tell someone else's story, but this one is too good not to share. We were told this in person by my Aunt Shirley and ideally, I wish I had video-taped her because we haven't laughed that hard at something in a long time. She's a great storyteller. I will try to do it justice and accurately in written word.

My aunt's sister and her friend were on a shopping trip one day when they witnessed the car in front of them hit a cat. They were appalled that the driver didn't even stop. They stopped and the cat was indeed dead. They felt they couldn't just leave it there. They thought about taking it to the ASPCA (why, I don't know) but it was in the opposite direction of the mall. It was decided to put the cat in a bag from their purchase at a previous store and put the bag in the trunk, go to the mall and on the way home, stop at the ASPCA. 

When they got to the mall, they were concerned that the dead cat may stink up the car while they were shopping, so they decided to put the bag on the hood of the car until they came back.

A while later, as they were returning from shopping, they could see a woman grab the bag from the hood of their car and quickly walk away. They watched her go to her car. She obviously thought she was stealing something good. When she got to her car, she opened the bag and looked inside. She passed out!

A man passing by saw her faint and helped revive her and help her sit in her car. Then he placed the bag on her lap. She passed out again! A parking lot patrolman came along, and they called an ambulance. The girls watched as they put her in the ambulance, and they sent the bag along with her! 

The story doesn't end there. A while later, my aunt was taking a speech class and had to tell a true story. She decided to tell this one. Imagine her surprise when one of other students said, "I was a nurse working at the hospital when she came in!" 

I wonder if the woman had to admit to her crime, but I bet this cured her permanently of shop lifting. What a great example of "crime doesn't pay". I leave you with God's word from Exodus 20:15, "Thou shalt not steal."

The Pool Incident Reflection #21

 

Summer is coming and I was reflecting on the days spent in my parents' above ground pool. When we had kids, they loved going over there to swim. My Mom went in the pool once in a while, but usually sat on the deck watching. When all the adults were working, Mom would have the kids over for games, crafts, TV and pool and many snacks too. Lunch was often pizza rolls or frozen pizza and chips. I'm trying to remember what else, I'm sure my kids remember. She always had snacks on hand, and I guess I have followed in her footsteps. 

There was one summer day that ended up with a story that has been retold by different eyewitness accounts over and over again. I wasn't there, so this is second hand and I'm sure if my kids read this, I may have to amend some things as to how they remember it. Tiffany and Ben were probably about 12 and 9, I think. That was the first time ever, that my Mom left the deck to put the pizza rolls in the oven. The kitchen wasn't far from the deck. What could happen in a few minutes? 

Soon there was screaming. The way I understand it, "someone", as was common with many of us, kicked the pool wall to get a push to the other side in their float. In a flash, the whole wall collapsed, and all the water came gushing out taking Ben down the small berry bush covered embankment into the back yard. Tiffany somehow remained in the pool but screaming and crying for fear of her brother as he was washed away.

Mom came running out to see the disaster. Ben came up from the embankment with the deflated tube around his waist and with scratch marks from the bushes all over his body. 

This incident has been one of those family stories the kids retell over and over. Tiffany says she feared for her brother's life as she saw him disappear over the embankment. Now Ben has a different (teasing) spin on it. I think his comes from the fact that Tiffany was laughing in relief that he was ok and of course, seeing him walking up the hill with the popped tube around his waist was also humorous. Ben even made a little video with Barbie dolls reenacting 'The Day My Sister Tried to Kill Me" (she maintains he kicked the wall). As for my mother, she would always say, "The ONE TIME I left them alone." She felt remorse and guilt, but what could she have done? I can imagine how surreal it must have been to come out and see the collapsed pool and only one grandchild in it. 

This scary incident became a funny memory. Each one there had a different tale to tell about the incident--the two eyewitness accounts and the one innocent bystander who arrived at the scene moments later. 

Life is like that; we can all share the same experience and have different feelings about it or even different viewpoints of what really happened. Some people survive avalanches of water and being scratched by thorns, some will watch in fear and helplessness as others suffer and those who don't even witness the event can be personally touched by the circumstances, sometimes feeling remorse. We are shaped and grow through our life experiences. It is great when incidents like this one, can turn into a happy tale to tell after the fact. Not all experiences always do. Likewise, as Christians, we may have different testimonies of our lives. and different experiences that shape us and our identity. Different ways to share our life's stories and still serve the same God.

I leave you with God's word: "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." 

I Corinthians 12:4-6