Food! 1706

Joyce and I were talking this afternoon about food when we were children. If your mother put it on the plate, you ate it. Woe be if you said, “ick” that meant you had to eat whatever it was. Once when I was just a child we had hominy corn. I could not stand the smell of it, so I said I could not eat it. That sealed the deal. I had to eat it! I had two bites and vomited all over the table. I was never served hominy again and have never had it in my adult lifetime.

Joyce’s grandparents were of German descent. Their youngest son (Joyce’s uncle William) despised sauerkraut. His father forced him to eat it at their table. William would take a few strings between bread to choke it down. William grew up and went to war in World War Two. He flew bombing missions over Germany. On his last mission the plane was damaged, losing one of two engines. They managed to limp out of Germany until they got to the Alps. The plane did not have enough power to climb over the mountains so the crew bailed out. William and one other man survived the bailout, but were captured by German soldiers by a power plant. William spent a year in a German POW camp. His family found out he was captured and his father was so very sad during that time because he made William eat sauerkraut and he knew that William was having to live on sauerkraut at that time.

We as well as many parents (ours and later) pushed children to eat all kinds of foods. Bad mistake! Kids need some guidance, but never force them to eat things they cannot stand. Tastes change as kids grow, but a horrible memory lasts forever.