WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

One of the most ridiculous things to make me happy is flipping a fried egg or a pancake in the frying pan on my kitchen stove.

Why you might ask? The first vision I get is a tall, trim, gracefully aging Aunt Isabelle standing in her kitchen with her gray hair clipped back, flipping eggs/pancakes one after another to feed her large family. The funny part is that I was never in Aunt Isabelle’s kitchen. The next thought is my husband about sixty years ago, standing at his aunt’s side incredulously watching her flip the contents of the pan and sliding his lunch onto his plate.

My husband’s mother had gone to the hospital for back surgery. Not pleased with one aunt’s cooking, he quickly switched across town to another aunt so that she could fix him lunch. He went to grammar school with his cousin, so they walked to her house together.

Whenever we would pass their easy-to-distinguish house, adorned with cement lions on each side of the front stoop, he would recount the story. I suppose that it made him so happy that it makes me happy to think about it to this day.

What zany little memories make you happy? Maybe try mastering the art of flipping eggs/pancakes. I’ll never match Aunt Isabelle’s skills but I smile as I picture the registered nurse and mother of six in action each time I give it a try.