How do you like your Breakfast?

This morning I made a hot breakfast for me kids. Sad to say, this is not a common occurrence in our house. Not just because I am lazy, but my kids have also now been trained to like cold cereal better than most hot cereals. The importance of this hot breakfast wasn't in it being unusual, but it was also the first time I made hot breakfast before Ellen went to school. Odd as it may sound, I sat there buttering her toast and found myself missing my Grandma Kunz (Ellen's namesake) more than I have in a long time.


Let me explain.


Growing up we lived just down the street from my Grandma and Grandpa Kunz. I loved it! It was great to know that when you wanted to run away from home you knew you had a place to go that was just a half a mile away. Little did you understand that while Grandma would gladly take in a runaway and feed you all sorts of yummy treats, she would also make you realize how great home was and before you knew it Mom and Dad were there to pick you up and you forgot that you ran away.


Being the youngest kid in my family my mom went back to work when I went to Kindergarten. Because my dad was a railroad engineer and was gone a couple of days a week, I would spend those mornings down with Grandma and Grandpa and then catch the bus from their house. This ended once I was in first grade and my older siblings could help me get on the bus, but that was not the end of my mornings with Grandma. In fact, that was just a small part.


In the fifth grade my mom got a job as the secretary of my elementary school which was also just down the road from our house. Grandma's house was on the way and since Joey had started Junior High I got to once again get dropped off with Grandma in the mornings. This time for breakfast, and then off to school.


We continued this all through my 5th and 6th grade years. Every morning I would get dropped off with Grandma and receive the best breakfasts I have ever had in my life. Since I was the only one Grandma had to feed my breakfast was almost always made to order. In fact, there were times that she would call me the night before to see what I wanted in the morning. (Something my dad is still jealous of to this day.) More often than not my breakfast would consist of eggs, Grandma's favorite, juice, milk, and toast. (Thus the tearing up over it this morning.) Grandma found out that I didn't like the crusts very much and that they were just getting thrown away every day, so she started cutting them off for me. She found out that I loved eggnog and so as soon as she could find it in the store she would bring it home and it would take the place of my milk. It would continue to be there until she no longer could get it.


I have taken poking from my siblings throughout the years about being spoiled, and you know what they are right. There are benefits to being the baby of the family. One of my greatest benefits has been these breakfasts with Grandma. They are moments that I treasure and hold close to my heart. Times when I was able to be mentored by one of the most wonderful, lovely, spiritual, beautiful woman to have ever walked this earth.


Thanks Grandma! I think I will have over easy this morning.