It has been a while since I last visited my parents’ home. This year, MiniMe, Dr. BJ and I were invited to join them for a holiday dinner. Dr. BJ was really excited to see the house in which I grew up and was very interested in a tour. We toured every floor and, just outside the ping pong room, he was quickly impressed with a picture of my dad in the late 70s, donning an afro and ‘stache. I could have ended the tour there, but we opted to continue on. As I was taking him from room to room, even showing him the closets, which he loved, “Oh my, look at all of this space,” we came across a small white cardboard box with my name written on the side.
We pulled the box off the shelf and noticed my name was also written on the top of the box, just below these two words, ‘Chicken Nuggets’. We opened the lid to find a variety of memorabilia from my childhood – little nuggets of my life. Like a nugget (of gold, not chicken), each item in the box was small and valuable in some way.
We found the yellowed newspaper clipping announcing my birth and my parents’ home address – but no picture, I was clearly no ‘Tina Thomas’ or ‘George Jones’; a book about Thomas’ tonsillectomy – which was supposed to help me feel better about mine; a list detailing gifts and party themes from my first few Christmas and birthday celebrations (not a shocker that one of my party themes was ‘dress up’); school writing projects; love letters to and from various boys; and notes about my ‘sayings and deeds’. Apparently, when my mom was breastfeeding my sister, I would pretend to nurse my baby too, from what I thought were called ‘elbows’.
As I got older, and my elbows got bigger, my theatrical skills improved. I cameod in several smash hits, ‘How Spider Saved Halloween,’ ‘Sara’s Halloween Birthday,’ ‘Christmas Around the World’ and ‘Dragon Stew’. ‘Dragon Stew’ would have gone off without a hitch if Melissa, Cook #1, hadn’t gotten stuck behind the spice rack the entire length of the kitchen scene. Had this not happened, I’ve no doubt Guffman would have picked up the production and taken us to Broadway.
Looking through memorabilia makes one wonder, “Did I pick the right career? Should I have followed my dream to become a gift wrapper? What would FatGirl say now if he knew I was a major part of the ‘Stars in Motion’ dance recital – step ball changing to ‘Elegance’ and ‘We’re in Love with the U.S.A.’? Would my name be in lights on Broadway if it weren’t for Melissa and the spice rack? Why don’t people write in cursive anymore? or What is Jeremy ‘your secret it mire’ doing now?” The answers don’t matter – it’s the ‘nuggets’ that count.