Step Back in Time and Create Your Own Memories – Chapter 4 of Mike and Michelle

If you missed Chapters 1 thru 3, you can click below on each so you can catch up with the life episodes about Mike and Michelle. 

Chapter 1 – Every Photo Has a Story – Part I / Meet Michelle!

Chapter 2 – Every Photo Has a Story – Part II / Mike and Michelle’s Home Remodel

Chapter 3 – Michelle Wins Piedrafina Engineered Marble Bathroom

CHAPTER 4

As Michelle and Mike sat at the kitchen table for dinner surrounded by their newly remodeled kitchen, Michelle started looking around with fork in hand.  Tears started to swell in her eyes. Mike frantically asked her what was wrong, thinking something happened to the baby.  She could only respond with her words being interrupted with a choked raspy voice resulting from the sadness and tears she was experiencing.  Mike finally blurted out, “Is it the baby?”.  “No” Michelle responded.

As Michelle sat at the table with her forefinger in the air in a non-verbal way in asking Mike to wait for a moment so she could regain her composure, she proceeded to tell him what she was feeling and thinking . . . .

“Sitting around the kitchen table reminded me of my mom’s house during her surprise 75^th birthday party with all my siblings and my mom’s existing friends gathered around.  They were reminiscing about the good old days, as they called them.  It also brought back memories when I was a kid.”

As if in a trance, she continued “I remember . . .

• When the family would sit around the radio for entertainment because there was no television invented.
• Feeling the excitement when the television was invented; yet thought we had to be rich to own one.
• There were good clean family movies; no such thing as movie ratings.
• Laughter was provided by Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and the Marx Brothers.
• Watching slide shows of our family gatherings was the next best thing.
• We had only one phone, and it was a rotary dial.
• Playing outdoors without a watch, knowing it was time to go home when I heard my mother or father calling me, or when it was starting to get dark.
• Climbing trees and playing in the dirt was not a second thought.
• Swinging on an old tire that was tied to a large branch on the oak tree.
• Making mud pancakes; yet getting most of the mud on myself and not getting in trouble for it.
• My friends and I wiping our noises with our sleeves was not unheard of.
• Mom scrubbing our clothes on a wash board and hanging them outdoors on a clothes line to dry.
• Riding my second-hand bike with playing cards adhered to the wheel spokes with borrowed clothes pins from mom so I could hear the ta! ta! ta! ta!
• Playing outdoors was the thing to do.
• Playing outdoor games such as “Red Light; Green Light”, “Mother May I”, and the all-time favorite “Hide and Seek”.
• Asking my friends what they were having for dinner if I did not like what mom was cooking.
• Coloring pictures for “everyone” was my gift of accomplishment; especially when I saw the pictures on the refrigerator.
• Making a mess when finger painting that got on my face, arms, and everything else besides the paper.
• Milk being delivered in glass bottles to our home by the milkman; and then trying to figure out how the cow dispersed chocolate milk when it was introduced.
• Visiting the community bread store for Hostess Cupcakes and Twinkies; which was a big treat that I looked forward to.
• Hand-me down clothes was common and so thrilling to receive.
• There was only one Barbie doll.
• There were no artificial Christmas trees.
• There were only drive-in movie theaters.
• Vinyl records were the big thing to have and collect.
• You were lucky to have a typewriter.
• Coffee was made in a percolator pot on the stove.
• We grew most of our vegetables and fruit in our backyard garden, and learned how to fight off the gophers.
• Mom showed us how to make jam and seal it with wax in mason jars.
• Mom allowed my sisters, and I, to help her bake, not caring about the mess we were making.
• The family sat at the dining table and ate together and did not leave the table until we were all done – conversation was happy.
• We were grateful for our blessings and our family’s closeness and love; which was of greater value than anything we could buy.

Michelle choked up again and then continued, “I want to be able to share those memories with our child and instill the good things.  I believe those memories are not only nostalgic, but they provide historic events of the past, that is educational, that only we can offer our child.  What better gift to our child but to share those memories that he or she can pass down from generation to generation.”

Mike looked at her with swollen eyes.  He remembered his dad’s efforts in showing him how to work on the family’s 1957 Chevy Nomad station wagon that was used to transport all the kids.  He remembered how patient his father was with him when graduating in teaching him from building simple things to more complex things by using a limited amount of hand tools and a saw that they could afford.  Now with both parents deceased, that is all he had – his treasured memories.

With his eyes still affixed on her, Mike reached for Michelle’s hands and held them.  Something was definitely stirring within his heart.

“I agree with you Michelle.  The gift of fond memories cannot be purchased.” Mike said in a gentle voice.

Michelle smiled, “Do you know that my mom still has the original yellow tile countertop in her kitchen, with the original O’Keefe & Merritt stove.  That stove is still lighting up with a little help.”

Michelle started laughing with dried tears on her cheeks, “Her kitchen sink is all chipped up inside but each chip has its own cute, and not so cute, story.  Her kitchen is “her” – it reflects her personality and has provided so many wonderful memories for the family.”

Michelle looked around their kitchen again, “Our kitchen is “us” – it reflects our personalities and will capture many memories for our family as well.”

Mike chuckled, “You mean it reflects “a little of YOU!”

Michelle gave him a gazing look.

“OK! OK!” snickered Mike.  “It reflects a little of US!”

The moment together that Mike and Michelle shared in their new kitchen was a simple celebration in showing them of the memories that are to come.  It launched the new beginning of a soon-to-be family that would create memorable conversations around the kitchen table that are perfect for any family gathering.

Motto of the Story:  Mike and Michelle has a rewarding relationship that was not found through Mike’s stomach, but through their kitchen.

Call the countertop professionals at California Crafted Marble, Inc. at (619) 562-2605 to “add a little YOU!” to your kitchen so you can start your new memories.