Fried Bologna
Shelly was shopping and running errands all morning. I sat wondering what I wanted for lunch. Looking in the fridge I saw what has been a part of my lunches since I can remember breathing. It has had several different packages and labels; but it has always been there for me. Except for those few years when Shelly wouldn’t let me have it in the house. Then we started working with our Youth Center, the Garage, and those packages showed back up. It was a good way to give the kids something to eat after school when they showed up looking to devour cookies and chips.
So, I reached into the fridge and grabbed the bologna. A friend for years and just what was on the menu for lunch today. I fried that bologna in a hot pan with butter put a cheese slice in between two pieces and waited. The aroma filled the kitchen. That is where the story takes a funny turn. Shelly comes in and asks me, “What did you make for lunch that smells so good?” I told her she wouldn’t think so when she found out what it was. I told her I made some fried bologna. She said “Ewwww that’s gross.” I laughed because she just doesn’t get it.
Fried bologna reminds of a time when life was simple for me. I was young and a good sandwich could make my whole day. I won’t lie to you; even now sometimes a good sandwich makes my whole day. Little did I know that we had bologna because it was what my parents could afford to feed us. I didn’t care how much it cost or did not cost. I just know there was almost nothing better than a fried bologna sandwich. I loved them on Mrs. Baird’s bread with some mustard.
Of course, there were the fried egg sandwiches at times and a hot dog or two roasted over the gas burner on a stove in our kitchen. Those lunches were times I will never forget. Sitting at the table with my mom and siblings at times and just being together. My biggest worry at the time was what was going to be for lunch or what I was going to do after lunch. At that time in my life I wasn’t worried about what something cost or a plan for the week after or for my future. It was living that day after a good lunch and just enjoying the Texas sun and friends.
Of course, we all know that we grow up and get older. Then if you do not plan your life out you are going to fail miserably. At least that is what we have been told. Talk about pressure. I knew what I was going to do early in my life, but I talk to people all the time who are still searching for what they are supposed to do. I feel bad for them. I consider myself blessed to have found my calling early and being able to still live it all these years later.
There are those days though where maybe we need to slide back into those fried bologna lunches. That is why I still sneak them every once in a while. Just to remember that life is to be enjoyed one lunch at a time. To be lived daily and in the moment at times. Not with a big universal plan always nipping at our heels and reminding us of what we have not accomplished yet. The challenge is not to reach further and greater, but to every once in a while reach into the back part of the fridge and grab the bologna. To put butter in the pan and just enjoy a good fried bologna sandwich or whatever you ate as you thought of playing growing up as a kid.