My family moved down from Michigan when I was a year old. Tired of the snow and ice they came for the warmth.
A snow fall in Florida is rare as a blue moon and far briefer. The one time in memory it occurred I slept thru it. And when I awoke there was no trace whatsoever!
Our state has no ice except for the occasional hail and what's inside the freezer. Excuse me my age is showing when I say that growing up our fridge was always referred to as the icebox.
The refrigerators of my childhood all had ice crystals hanging from the top of the freezer. I used to take a glass and scoop it off. Then I'd pour fruit juice over the top and have tasty snow cone to enjoy.
However getting cubed ice wasn't easy. Back then, they came in trays with a handle that took near Herculean strength to pull. Thankfully refrigerators these days have easy access not only to cubes but crushed ice.
However ice has taken on an insidious and even sinister role in my life.
This began in the 1980's. All of a sudden my mother began chowing down on it and declaring how much she enjoyed it. Mom had two pie plates that she alternately kept in the freezer. As soon as ice sheets formed she would remove and consume. I always thought this strange plus it occurred so suddenly out of the blue.
Not long after she was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread into the liver. She was given six months to live; however she managed to live an entire year on chemotherapy.
Nearly twenty years later I was on the phone with my aunt Kiki. She happened to mention how delicious she had discovered ice to be and couldn't get enough of it. Immediately a chill ran thru me!
The next time we spoke she informed me of her cancer diagnosis. This was cancer of the esophagus. Soon after, she died.
In recent years dentists have warned me never to chew on ice due to all my expensive dental work. Well I'm not seven years old anymore and I lack the desire.
But If I ever do start craving ice you'd better believe I will panic! And I'm going to start collecting all my important papers and update my will. Pronto!
No comments:
Post a Comment