Have you ever been hungry?

Today I had the opportunity to pack boxes at the food bank with members of the car club. It was just a two hour shift working on a pack line in the warehouse. It was fun, a lot of laughing and joking.

Before we started, one of the staff at the food bank asked the large group of volunteers, “Have you ever been hungry?”

My answer, like most of the other volunteers, was “No”.

Yes, I have gotten busy and missed a meal or needed to go to the grocery store hungry, but never, never there was no food hungry.

What a blessing to be almost 71 years old and never been hungry. Yes, some years have been leaner than others but always sufficient food. Everyday of my entire life!

My Mother grew up during the depression and when her Dad died, my Grandmother was left with six children to feed. This time in my Mother’s life (as I calculate about six years) must have been more difficult than I can ever imagine.

She has, through the years, told me stories and expressed that if you have ever been cold and hungry, it is so deeply imprinted on you that you are always fearful it will happen again.

She was always the first to fill boxes of food for the needy because she would say “I have been the child who would not have had a hot meal if someone had not packed boxes.”

Some of her stories were amusing, she said when she was a child she didn’t know that people ate oranges or nuts except at Christmas because she only had them when the Church or a charity brought the “Christmas Box”.

She would also tell of the time they received a whole chicken and her mother was working and she and her older sister did not know how to cook it, so they got a big pot and boiled it. When her Mother came home, it smelled good and Grandma was so relieved they had food for Christmas dinner.

This is the way she remembered and her gratitude to the unknown generous people who helped her family has lasted a lifetime.

She now doesn’t remember these stories, but her concern over her siblings having enough to eat is still there. Last week when I visited her and my Dad, I stopped by Steak ‘n Shake to pick up milkshakes for them. They are in an Assisted Living facility and meals and snacks provided, but they always like a treat from the outside.

Daddy and I went over to the Memory Care area to take Mama her milkshake. She was having a good day and was glad to see us. I told her I had brought her a treat and she was very excited. She wanted to be sure that Daddy and I had a milkshake as well and offered to share. We told her we all had one and she was pleased that hers was chocolate and just for her. She wanted to know if anyone else was coming to the “party” and did we have enough for everyone. I told her it was a small party, just the three of us.

She drank every drop and said it was the best milkshake she had ever tasted. She talked a good bit and I realized she thought I was her sister. She suddenly became concerned that there would not be food for dinner and wanted to know if I had been able to get meat and who paid for it. I reassured her that her dinner was being prepared, she could eat all she wanted and it was paid for. She then asked about “milk for the children” (I am sure she was referring to her younger siblings. She was the second of six and she and her older Sister frequently took care of the younger ones.)

Daddy and I told her that we had bought milk for everyone and she did not need to worry. How traumatic her life must have been, that eighty plus years later she is still concerned that she and her siblings will go hungry. So many memories are gone, but that still concerns her.

And so today, when the question was asked “Have you ever been hungry?” I thought of my Mama and my Grandma and Aunt Juhn and Uncle Larry and Uncle Harry and Aunt Colleen and Aunt Janelle.

Somewhere in Phoenix, some child is hungry, some Mother does without to buy milk for her babies, some elderly person has no hot meal. I have done so little and have been given so much.

Today was for you Mama!

Love and Peace,

Linda