What were your school lunches like when you were a child? My mother must have really loved tuna fish because that was her main choice for a sandwich when she packed my lunch.
For most of my classmates, a sandwich of peanut butter and jelly was the favorite. So…..as you read this….what memories of your childhood school lunches are coming to your mind? Here’s some of mine:
- Having a Roy Rogers lunchbox. Before that, I had a brown paper sack.
- Separate tables…one for the girls and one for the boys.
- Occasionally going through the cafeteria line to buy a plate lunch. I loved fish sticks! Remember those?
- Having 7 cents to buy milk every day…My parents insisted that I had milk at every meal, even at school.
- When we finished lunch, we could go outside and play. My girlfriends and I brought jacks to play with on the smooth concrete porch near the cafeteria.
The value of talking about our childhood experiences when we visit our dear friends, those ladies in our community with some type of cognitive decline, is that they can usually remember things that happened years ago. Short term memories are the first to go…but long term memories can often be accessed with some prompting. It’s said that “The first in is the last to go.” What that means is that our early memories are often the last to leave us when we have cognitive issues.
School lunches can be a starting point for memories of other experiences of our years in primary or elementary school. Most of our dear friends can relate to something that is said and will join the conversation. Here are some ideas:
- Learning to Read …My school used the Dick and Jane series. Remember Spot?
- Playing on the Playground…I loved to climb on the monkey bars.
- Art Classes ….We did finger painting and made paper mache objects. Such fun!
- Paper Drives…We brought newspapers from home that were tied in bundles with string.
- Valentine’s Day Parties…We gave valentines to each of our classmates and ate heart-shaped sugar cookies.
- Talent Shows…My girlfriends and I sang “Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends.” That is a silly song, but we thought we were really “cool.”
- Transportation…My friends and I walked together to school.
The object of any of this is to engage our dear friends in conversation. Most of our dear friends will contribute a memory of their own after we share ours in a concise way. As the cognitive issues became more severe, some of our dear friends weren’t able to share a memory but they were able to smile or laugh appropriately when we shared ours. They were engaged, even at that. Whether actively engaged or passively engaged, conversation can stimulate brain function and helps our dear friends keep connected to those around them.
Sharing and Caring. It’s what the Lady-Links do.
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