My cooking began when I was 16. I had an after school job making chilli. The owner of the business delivered his chilli and Tamales all over town during the day. The owner left all the makings out for me to cook, combine and finish. Then I would empty the huge vat and put it in the reefer to cool it. That was done 5 days a week. On Saturday he made the tamales and I put the wraps on them. We were done around noon and I went home. My family were given all the chilli and tamales we could eat.
When I enlisted in the navy, I had electronics training for about a year and a half. That included training to be an airborne early warning radar operator. I was ready to get to work as soon as I got to Guam. However, not yet being a rated petty officer, my first 95 days were spent in the Guam naval air station galley from 7pm to 7am. During that time I scrubbed huge vats used for cooking all day long. After that, I made box lunches for flights going out from Guam the next day. I liked that, I had all the sandwiches I could consume while I worked. At 5am, I manned a large grill, cooking eggs and bacon for sailors’ breakfast. I was pretty good at that. I could crack eggs 2 at a time and drop them on the grill. I don’t know how many breakfasts I made, more than 100-200 depending on how many sailors showed up.
I had married Joyce and no one could cook like she did. When we had the farm, we also had jobs in Springfield. I left for work 2 hours before Joyce left, so I was home 2 hours before her. That lasted for a while until my hours changed and by the time I stopped to get Joyce’s grocery list every day, I didn’t have time to cook for her.
After Joyce passed, I was back to cooking again. That has been 3 and a half years. Now I’m back to my Guam cooking days. I often cook myself eggs for breakfast and it is salads and sandwiches the rest of the day. The circle has been completed.
Brother Bill
