It’s funny
how an everyday object can bring memories rushing back, causing you to pause
what you’re doing to take a little trip into the past. I realized this recently when making a peanut
butter banana smoothie for my daughter; the bananas were fairly ripe, a bit
soft with many brown spots on the peel.
My maternal grandfather liked them that way, and even riper than
that. He ate a banana every day, as did
my mother with her lunch. I can picture her, sitting at the table for lunch
with her plate of tuna macaroni salad or cottage cheese and jello, a glass of
iced tea with 2 ice cubes in it, and a banana laid alongside the glass waiting
for its turn to be consumed. I can smell
the tang of the onions and slight fishy smell of the tuna, and almost taste the
sweetness of the Miracle Whip salad dressing she used to make her salads. There were many days as an adult that I
stopped in for lunch with her, especially on the weekends after my first
daughter was born. Lunch was usually tuna macaroni salad and a banana; although
sometimes it was tomato soup and a cheese sandwich, or cottage cheese and
jello. If my father was there, he had a
sandwich of white bread, butter, chicken roll, and sometimes lettuce, iced tea,
and a banana. There are such fond
memories brought up by a humble piece of fruit!
I always have bananas in my house, and
we don’t always eat them before they are overripe so we usually have either
banana bread or banana cake either on the counter or in the freezer. We find that we enjoy the banana cake more
than the bread, although toasted banana bread is tough to beat with a cup of
tea or coffee. Speaking of banana bread
brings back memories of visiting my aunt at the shore and breakfasting on her
screened in patio on warm summer mornings, with the smell of the ocean on the
breeze. She served toasted banana bread
with her homemade jelly; most memorable for my husband was the beach plum jelly
she made. I don’t know if it was being
on vacation, or the fresh sea air, or a combination of the two but when I make
banana bread he always mentions the toasted banana bread spread and beach plum
jelly, with fondness both for the food and my aunt.
Humble everyday objects surround us,
each one waiting with the potential to offer us a break from our current
reality with a little trip down Memory Lane.
I like that.
