When I first started reading again as an adult, one book that made a big impression on me was Bill Bryson’s The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. It was a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in the Midwest during the 1950s. I read this book with gusto when I was nostalgic for the simplicity of my own childhood. Bryson takes a few liberties with the facts of his youth and fancies himself somewhat of a superhero. He writes with humor and pluck, causing the occasional guffaw from me whilst reading. This outburst would raise suspicion from my nearby spouse. “Just what are you reading?” She would ask.
I would then recount the previous section, and we would both laugh together. One passage I remember illustrated how simple his family was. Once fast-food restaurants began popping up, they would go on occasion and enjoy a meal as a family. Sometimes they would have too many ketchup packets, and, being the good Midwesterners they were, they wouldn’t think to throw them away; that would be wasteful. Meanwhile, a special drawer in their kitchen was the receptacle for all such condiments.
When maple syrup finally joined the ranks of condiments and was served in its own sealed plastic case, that was a very good day indeed. He explained that his family was gloriously unsophisticated. I love that expression, “gloriously unsophisticated,” and have used it, claiming it as my own.
I remember our own such drawer in our kitchen. We, too, were gloriously unsophisticated.
Anyway, I took inspiration from his memoir and put together a few of my own recollections, which I will post on this blog over the next few weeks, for you to consider. Every story is completely and utterly true. I tell them from my firsthand perspective, and any family member who could confirm or deny the details has long since passed, so you will have to take my word for it.
I hope you enjoy them. If you don’t, that’s ok too. Just keep it to yourself.