Banana Memories

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.