At last

March is here at last. February has been endured and March has roared in at last. I hope that the lamb portion comes soon. Today should be the monthly trip to the grocery store. It is amazing how much life has changed. It is possible to purchase a month's groceries at once and have them last, thanks to the miracle of freezing. When I was a boy we had an icebox, not a refrigerator. The iceman delivered ice once a week. Things kept cool but it was necessary to go to the market at least once a week. I can still remember the scent of eight o'clock coffee being ground and the sawdust on the floor of the market. We had a coal furnace which my Father had to tend to each evening. There was always a kettle of soup or stew gently bubbling on the stove. Home was warmth and food and people that cared about you. We got a refrigerator in 1953 and my Mother was so proud. She was not so proud but much more thrilled when we got a washing machine.
Then there was the television. My Father was not a fan of television. He felt that there was something sinister about television. He resisted getting one for quite some time. My Mother used to take us across the street in the evening to watch the television in the appliance store window. My Father would listen to the baseball game on the radio. He loved baseball and felt it was the only true sport. I had just started the third grade and came home one day in October. After climbing the stairs, we lived on the fifth floor, I walked into the dining room and there it was! A big black box on the table. She had gotten a television. I said "Oh Mom, he is going to be so angry.". She said "Don't you worry, it will be all taken care of.".
My Father got home each evening about five fifteen P.M.. At five ten she turned the television on and I soon heard his footsteps coming down the hall. He stopped in the dining room and I immediately saw the look. A scowl came over his face and suddenly disappeared. He called to my Mother "Betty, is that the World Series?". He sat down on a chair, she walked in with a cold beer for him, and that was that. He was a giant of a man and she was just a peanut but I learned that day that there is a difference between being in charge and running things. That concept was later enforced in my life by a trellis and a lawn chair. Life is full of times that seem crisises at the time and become fond memories. The birth of one's children is such a time. That the person you love so much will have to go through such an ordeal is terrifying but then a new miracle comes to your life. The next day the terror comes again. Am I strong enough to provide for a family? What if I get sick or die? The application for the life insurance is filled out that day. Why is it called life insurance? Shouldn't it be death insurance? It is not insurance against life. There is flood insurance, accident insurance, and theft insurance. Why would anyone insure against life? Death is just one of the other plans, life is what happens. This year I will be sixty-three. A landmark time in my family.