What Happened (Part 22)

 

Lunch is a very simple affair, usually sandwiches.  Mom puts all of the stuff on the table, and we each get a glass of ice water (tea is for supper, and soda is a rare treat). The usual suspects on a lunch table are chopped ham lunch meat, American cheese slices, pickles, tomatoes, mustard, Miracle Whip, peanut butter, jelly (peach or grape), and, if we are lucky, Lay’s potato chips.  Mom likes to put chips in her sandwich, and eventually we pick up the habit.  One of us is chosen to pray, and then we dig in.  The first round is a luxurious meat-and-cheese sandwich, each of us putting in orders for our individual variations and Mom making them for us.  Seconds, if we’re still hungry, is the less expensive peanut butter and jelly, full, or folded if we’re less ravenous. There is chatter and exuberance at the table, and even the occasional bit of taboo singing (“If you sing at the table, you’ll have a crazy wife!”).  We admonish each other to keep our “ables off the tables.”  When we’re done Mom clears the food away and puts the few dishes in the sink, and it is nap time.