Hot Dogs and Cottage Cheese

February 17, 2011

Hot Dogs and Cottage Cheese

"I have created you and have cared for you since before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." Is. 46:3,4

It's funny how one little memory, once really focused on, can lead to so many others. Tonight I took some time to live in my not-so-distant past...back when I was about ages 5-10. The memory that triggered it all was eating hot dogs and cottage cheese and chips on a summer afternoon in my grandparents' kitchen in Collegedale. My brother and cousins and I were still dripping from the neighbors' pool--where we spent hours and hours of fun until we would diagnose ourselves as "water-logged." (Grandma made sure we were slathered with sunblock twice a day, but it didn't stop us from getting a healthy tan.) For supper's dessert, Grandpa would bring in a mouth-watering cantalope from his backyard garden, and whatever we didn't eat would go in a clear-and-orange plastic container in the fridge. And then there were Golden Grahams and ice cream sandwhiches, taking naps in the hammock, going to the BIG church with beautiful stained-glass windows where Grandma would give us gum to chew and Grandpa would give us change for the offering plate.

Whenever we would first arrive in town, after our three-hour drive from Nashville, we would often stop at Southern to visit my Grandma, who worked in Student Services. I remember being so excited, running into the ad-building, bounding up the winding staircase, running down the hall to my Grandma's office and seeing her big smile and open-arms and hear her "OOOHHH!!" We would never leave without getting a few pieces of candy off her desk.

Sometimes Grandpa would take us to "work" at Collegedale Academy. I remember him lifting me up with my "real" punch-card, so I could clock in and out, doing little odd jobs around the office when he was vice-principal. I always felt so grown-up, and was always excited to receive my pay at the end of the day!

It's amazing how memories grow. And how much I miss being a kid sometimes. I think Heaven will be a little bit like those summer days. Until then, though, it is good to remember that I have been blessed with so many good memories and people who have loved me and still do.