Yesterday was my first memoir writing class. The class size
is quite a bit smaller this term, which I think will be a good thing. I am
still by far the youngest; a few of the other women (no men this term) are
close to my mother’s age. Our first in-class assignment was to write about ice
cream. I worked on it a little bit more today, and here’s what I have written.
JP Licks is a chain of ice cream parlors in the Boston area,
including one not far from where our children and grandchildren live. The ice
cream is rich and creamy and there is a wide variety of flavors and toppings
from which to choose.
One of the continuing side effects of my treatment for a
brain tumor a year and a half ago is that many flavors do not taste as intense
as they used to. I do not know whether this is a result of the tumor or the treatment.
But, as a result, mint chocolate chip, my standard order at ice cream shops for
many years, tastes like plain vanilla to me now. So on our most recent visit to
JP Licks, I made a spur of the moment decision to try the peanut butter ice
cream. The peanut butter flavor was intense
and surprisingly tasty.
Can I learn something from ice cream flavors? Before my life
took changed so abruptly, I was blissfully happy with my family, my work, my
vegetarianism, even my ice cream flavor. I was not looking to change anything
except perhaps my weight. But life can take us in directions we had not
planned. While I continue to be pleased with my slimmed-down self, I can no
longer do all I would like for my family and I was forced to retire from a job
that I still very much enjoyed. So I cannot recommend cancer as a weight-loss
program, and although I have a new appreciation for many things, I believe that
I could have learned all of them in a less painful and challenging way for my
family. Nonetheless, as my daughter often says, “it is what it is.” I just need
to find that peanut butter ice cream in this new life.
Have a nice weekend! Eat some ice cream.
Love,
Rebecca
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