When the Berries were Sweet
A Time to Remember
Mimi was eating her sugar pops in her favourite bowl at the kitchen table while reading a book propped up against the large sugar bowl. She was nine years old and this was to be her morning routine for many years to come.
Oh, yes, the cereal choice changed slightly in keeping with the passing times and in this way, she steadily plowed through an astonishing array of literature all the way to grade 9. (more about that later )
Her father had left her when she was three when he abruptly died from a bout of leukaemia. It was always a vague diagnosis as when she would ask her mother, Sheila, if that was what he had died from. Her mother would shrug her shoulders and say, “Well, they didn’t know much in those days. Maybe by the time you grow up, they will have found a cure.”
This made Mimi stop and think about the what-ifs in that way but it only made her sad. She could remember her smiling father nicknaming her Mimi, his handsome face , his blue eyes, white teeth and mostly a deep love emanating from him and directed at her which she paused to re-imagine every time.
This morning was a summer morning and she had the luxury to dawdle through breakfast. Mimi watched her mother bustling about preparing for work at the Medical Clinic. It was 1962 and her mother dressed in sweater sets, a tiny strand of false pearls around her neck, a tweed pencil skirt, and nylons held up by a garter belt. Her hair was dyed blonde and swept back into a swirl in the back fastened by a bejeweled hair clip. Mimi thought her mother the most beautiful woman in the world and loved watching her morning routine. The most spellbinding moment was when her mother put on her high heels and straightened the dark line of the seamed stockings perfectly accentuating her shapely legs.
Mother then picked up her purse, filled it with a few tissues and snapped the gold coloured clasp shut with a satisfying click. She looked at Mimi, bent down to kiss her on the cheek leaving the lipstick imprint there, told her to be a good girl and listen to Mildred. Mimi watched as she walked to the door by the kitchen and shouted, “Bye Mommy!”
After that, she returned to finish her cereal and leisurely read her book before changing out of her pyjamas and into her play clothes — shorts, a sleeveless blouse, and sneakers.
Mildred would have come into the house about ten minutes before her mother left and peruse the list of household chores her mother had prepared. Mimi always read the list first and noted to herself that she was not on the list and quite incidental to Mildred’s duties which gave her a wonderful sense of freedom to plan her own day.
She decided that today she would call on her friend, Janet, to ask if she would come with her and pick blueberries in John S’s field. If they picked enough, they could fill glass milk bottles with the berries to sell for 25 cents a quart. After that, they could go to the pink store on the corner and buy some penny candy for 5 cents a bag and go hang out at the Broadway wharf and watch the boys fish for flattie fish.
