Mamma

I Remember Momma.

This had to be around 1943 because Dad was frozen to his job because
of the war. He worked at a box factory that made boxes for guns and
ammunition for the war effort. He had to be to work at 8:00 in the
morning. The box factory was about a half mile from the center of
town.
Mom and I would walk downtown. At that time I figured she just wanted
company, but what she was doing was teaching me how to shop. Anyway,
we walked around town and bought the things we needed there in town.
Around 1:00 we would go into Woolsworth and have lunch. I almost
always had a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot fudge sundae. Mom had
the same sandwich, but she had a carmel sundae. Then we would walk
back up toward the box factory. We would stop at the Safeway store,
that was a couple of blocks from the factory. We would then pick out
the grocreies and sit on a bench just outside the store and wait for
Dad to get off work and pick us up. This went on for a year or so
without much variation.
One day, Mom gave me the grocery list, and told me to pick out the
groceries as she went went along with me. She told me I did good. I
remember her telling Dad how well I did. Then one day she handed me
the list and money. Told me I had to get everything on the list, and
if I could find a way to save some money, it was mine to keep. Wow!
what a challange. I only had so much time before Dad came to get us
so I couldn't dally around too long. First time I didn't save much,
but as I got older, I found more ways to save. Besides by the time I
was 14, I was doing a lot of the cooking too, so I knew what I could
use and what I couldn't. I learned a lot from all this, and feel so
very lucky I had a Mom who thought to teach me.
Yes....I remember Mamma. She was my Mom and my best friend who I know
loved me, but not as much as I loved her.