Spring 1967.......two 11 years old & ten cream puffs
woke up craving a cream puff. not just any cream puff........but the one's they used to make at Hall's Bakery on Main Street. they cost a nickel a piece...........the pastry was in the shape of a hamburger bun.......but beyond the shape was another world. not at all like a hamburger bun........
they were light, airy........soft.......sprinkled in powdered sugar and filled with the lightest lovely whipped deliciousness. Luanne Hall was not only my age but the only child of this bakery family. I wondered what it would be like to be the only one, instead of in the middle between two big brothers and two younger sisters.
the ONLY one........to a child in a big noisy household it sounded like the stuff dreams were made of. never once did i think that she might feel lonely.......i put all my focus on what I imagined to be the best of the best of the best of the only child.........and then to have parents who baked homemade treats daily was beyond the dream, it was a miracle.
one morning....with Easter only a day away I went a little mad. i had a quarter......my best friend Patty had a quarter..........she lived in the country, so being close enough to walk to the bakery was doubly wonderful for her that morning........we walked the five blocks to the bakery and we each ordered 5 cream puffs a piece. .........we carried those clean stiff white bags full of promise to a bench and dove into the first creamy puff. ahhhhhhhhh, it was angelic confectionary delight. the second one was incredible......the third one still good..........Patty and I giggled as we felt the sugar infuse into our young bodies.......licked the cream as it squeezed onto the sides of the airy bun........yum.
we took a break and began walking.......felt the fullness of too much ......but Patty & I pressed on. There is an odd badge of honor among the young, once you bet the other that you'll eat all five somehow you can't back down. we pressed on and pushed hard to eat cream puff number four........when we arrived at the back yard of my house........we had tummy aches, but remained determined not to let it show.
we sat on the giant wooden teeter totter in my backyard.........my pesky little sisters wanting some of our treats..........we were bratty, denied them so much as a morsel...........sat there in the spring sunshine and polished off those fifth and final cream puffs.
mom called out through the screen door that it was time to go dress shopping. i had outgrown everything.......mom said i grew like a weed and dad said somebody should put a brick on my head to slow me down from shooting up. off we went back downtown to find a dress. I was beyond miserable..........dizzy, sweating, fighting the urge to be sick. patty wanted to go home........mom decided we'd take the pretty yelllow dress. patty rushed to the bathroom, i doubled over and prayed she would hurry so i could take a turn.
can i just tell ya i've never been so sick in all of my peapickin' life!!!!!! before that day ended i felt as though i had invented throwing up. mom got it out of us........about what we had done. she kept saying TEN CREAM PUFFS........TEN CREAM PUFFS?! What were you girls THINKING??? we hung our heads, held our bellies and continued wretching. mom didn't know how she was going to explain this to Patty's folks......(that's why she let Dad explain it..........)
i threw up until was certain i had turned inside out........i had pain in my wretched stomach and just wanted to be put out of my misery. mom called old doc dalby..........dad took patty home. when we got into see the doc his son was there......home from college for the week-end. the doc agreed to look me over on a saturday as a special favor to my mom.
there i was on that table........the doc checked me over........then took a pen and drew a diagram on me as he explained the surgical procedure to his son for appendix removal. he put an x on the spot for the first cut.......mom stood silently next to me, stern, but kind enough to hold my hand.
i was terrified. i didn't know diddly about the appendix, save that i was sure i needed mine, that nothing was wrong and i would never never ever eat an excessive amount of cream puffs again. after the day patty and i had.......i felt certain i could keep that promise for as long as i lived.
there wasn't one thing wrong with my appendix..........mom and ol doc dalby & his son conspired to scare me straight. i remember going home that night, looking at the surgical map on my young tummy and shivering. i felt so bad that even a pretty new yellow dress for Easter Sunday couldn't lift my spirits.
i was truly and duly chastened.......repentant, so sorry i had been such a silly goose. patty never told me about the spanking she got and i never told her about the trip to doc dalby's. (in a small town word always get around....)
the sky is the loveliest shade of blue today...........deeper than usual..........enormous white clouds. the birds are singing.............and the sun is pretty doggone wonderful........this day could easily be mistaken for spring..........it's 52. nice......very nice indeed.
they were light, airy........soft.......sprinkled in powdered sugar and filled with the lightest lovely whipped deliciousness. Luanne Hall was not only my age but the only child of this bakery family. I wondered what it would be like to be the only one, instead of in the middle between two big brothers and two younger sisters.
the ONLY one........to a child in a big noisy household it sounded like the stuff dreams were made of. never once did i think that she might feel lonely.......i put all my focus on what I imagined to be the best of the best of the best of the only child.........and then to have parents who baked homemade treats daily was beyond the dream, it was a miracle.
one morning....with Easter only a day away I went a little mad. i had a quarter......my best friend Patty had a quarter..........she lived in the country, so being close enough to walk to the bakery was doubly wonderful for her that morning........we walked the five blocks to the bakery and we each ordered 5 cream puffs a piece. .........we carried those clean stiff white bags full of promise to a bench and dove into the first creamy puff. ahhhhhhhhh, it was angelic confectionary delight. the second one was incredible......the third one still good..........Patty and I giggled as we felt the sugar infuse into our young bodies.......licked the cream as it squeezed onto the sides of the airy bun........yum.
we took a break and began walking.......felt the fullness of too much ......but Patty & I pressed on. There is an odd badge of honor among the young, once you bet the other that you'll eat all five somehow you can't back down. we pressed on and pushed hard to eat cream puff number four........when we arrived at the back yard of my house........we had tummy aches, but remained determined not to let it show.
we sat on the giant wooden teeter totter in my backyard.........my pesky little sisters wanting some of our treats..........we were bratty, denied them so much as a morsel...........sat there in the spring sunshine and polished off those fifth and final cream puffs.
mom called out through the screen door that it was time to go dress shopping. i had outgrown everything.......mom said i grew like a weed and dad said somebody should put a brick on my head to slow me down from shooting up. off we went back downtown to find a dress. I was beyond miserable..........dizzy, sweating, fighting the urge to be sick. patty wanted to go home........mom decided we'd take the pretty yelllow dress. patty rushed to the bathroom, i doubled over and prayed she would hurry so i could take a turn.
can i just tell ya i've never been so sick in all of my peapickin' life!!!!!! before that day ended i felt as though i had invented throwing up. mom got it out of us........about what we had done. she kept saying TEN CREAM PUFFS........TEN CREAM PUFFS?! What were you girls THINKING??? we hung our heads, held our bellies and continued wretching. mom didn't know how she was going to explain this to Patty's folks......(that's why she let Dad explain it..........)
i threw up until was certain i had turned inside out........i had pain in my wretched stomach and just wanted to be put out of my misery. mom called old doc dalby..........dad took patty home. when we got into see the doc his son was there......home from college for the week-end. the doc agreed to look me over on a saturday as a special favor to my mom.
there i was on that table........the doc checked me over........then took a pen and drew a diagram on me as he explained the surgical procedure to his son for appendix removal. he put an x on the spot for the first cut.......mom stood silently next to me, stern, but kind enough to hold my hand.
i was terrified. i didn't know diddly about the appendix, save that i was sure i needed mine, that nothing was wrong and i would never never ever eat an excessive amount of cream puffs again. after the day patty and i had.......i felt certain i could keep that promise for as long as i lived.
there wasn't one thing wrong with my appendix..........mom and ol doc dalby & his son conspired to scare me straight. i remember going home that night, looking at the surgical map on my young tummy and shivering. i felt so bad that even a pretty new yellow dress for Easter Sunday couldn't lift my spirits.
i was truly and duly chastened.......repentant, so sorry i had been such a silly goose. patty never told me about the spanking she got and i never told her about the trip to doc dalby's. (in a small town word always get around....)
the sky is the loveliest shade of blue today...........deeper than usual..........enormous white clouds. the birds are singing.............and the sun is pretty doggone wonderful........this day could easily be mistaken for spring..........it's 52. nice......very nice indeed.
Replies
Ah, what a lovely story! I\'m not at all surprised that you remember it so well. I think we all tend to remember things that make us violently ill! LOL...it\'s true. I remember seeing some cooking sherry in my Aunty\'s refrigerator when I was 10 years old. I couldn\'t wait to sneak a taste of what I thought would be an \"adult drink\". I remember taking a taste of that.....and almost instantaneously running to the bathroom. OH, how disgusting. My Aunt Peg heard me in there and came running. I still remember her smiling as I was telling her my tale of woe. She said \"Darla, that sherry is for cooking, not for drinking\"...but there was a very light tone to her voice. My Uncle, on the other hand, leaned into the bathroom and asked me if I\'d like to light up a \"Pal Mal\" of his, since I was in the mood for experimenting. I didn\'t find this humorous.
Thanks for the smile. Have you had a cream puff since? Bet those first two were to DIE for, eh!! LOL.....
Such a sweet memory! Your parents went the extra mile to get that message across. I have had only one experience like that and it was a Thanksgiving Day dinner that was toooo exceptional to pass up seconds on - I couldn\'t even clean up my own kitchen and my guests couldn\'t figure out why I was practically moaning on the couch. I couldn\'t even plead being a child! Never again. Hugs, Connie
Love this! Makes me hungry for cream puffs, except the barfing part LOL.... what a great memory you have, my friend... Seriously, I want a peapickin\' cream puff now!