Oatmeal and Toast

What is it that returns you to your childhood? For some, it is seeing a certain toy that reminds them of their younger years. Or, perhaps it is a particular song on the radio, umm maybe I should say tv.

I have a friend that will get very nostalgic when they sit at a counter in a diner. It returns them to the days when 'drugstores' use to have a lunch counter. I remember sitting on the high stools and getting a 'nilla coke.

But, for me, the smell of oatmeal and toast cooking in the kitchen can bring on a case of 'sweety eyes'.

For many years, when I was a pre-teen, my father worked in a mill in the neighboring town. He would leave for work when my siblings and I would be going to bed and return in the early morning. During the winter, when there was snow on the ground and everything else, I would wake up to the aroma of 'oatmeal and toast'. Dad would get home from work and fix a nice hot breakfast for us. And, of course, we had brown sugar to sprinkle on the oatmeal.

We would sit at the table in the kitchen, eat oatmeal and toast and talk with Dad. He was always working somewhere to support our family. After working an eight hour shift at the mill, he would catch a couple hours sleep and then be off to work painting someones house. But, he always had time for the children.

Breakfast began with a prayer of thanksgiving and ended with a short Bible reading and a few comments. As we got older and our understanding matured, he would question us about the passage he had read.

As each one reached the age of adulthood and found our way out into the world, my parents supported us with prayer. There never seemed to be any money but, we never seemed to be without, either.

So, the thing that returns me to my childhood is 'oatmeal and toast.' I guess that is what would be called 'comfort' food.

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