Saturday, September 10, 2011

Flash from the Past

Last night I was talking with a couple of friends about eating out. None of us ate out much as a kid. I can remember sometimes going to 4 Corners Restaurant after church for lunch. I would order mashed potatoes and roast beef with gravy on top of white bread. Lemon meringue pie was the dessert. 4 Corners had a fancy pie display case, and all of the pies were in a circle for you to look at and make a decision.

During our conversation, one friend made a comment about Hardees, and suddenly I remembered another thing. When I was older, but still a young teen-ager, my mom and I would go to Bridgeport to shop at the new mall on Saturdays. We would drive through the Hardees in the curve of the road and get an order of cinnamon raisin biscuits. They were warm and goey, covered in sweet glaze.

This evening we were headed out for a movie at the park. I popped a batch of corn on top of the stove, and we climbed into the van. Suddenly I was transported back to the drive-in theater we went to when I was a kid. I imagine it was on a Friday night, my parents would put us in our pajamas and toss us in the station wagon. My mom would bring a brown bag of freshly popped corn and a cooler of Kool-Aid. At the drive-in we would throw out a blanket on the ground or curl up in the back of the car and settle in for the movie.

I had a great childhood. It always surprises me when these memories flood back to me. They seem so long forgotten, and then suddenly the cobwebs are washed away and the smells and colors return as fresh as new paint. I wonder what memories will be etched in my own children's minds 30 years from now.

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