Description
When I think of being home sick as a child, very detailed memories flood my mind…
Mom had to go to work and Dad was handicapped and pretty much home bound (don’t be sad this isn’t a sad memory!). My sisters would set up the folding card table in front of the TV and drape an old blanket over it. “Here Lettie, it’s your sick tent.” I crawled inside and they handed me the crayon bucket, a coloring book, a few books, my favorite stuffed animals and my blue blanket with the satin edging, before turning on the TV. Hours of ’80s daytime TV. I would sit in my sick tent wishing my favorite shows would come on: Punky Brewster, Small Wonder, ALF, 3-2-1 Contact, Double Dare, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, or The Bozo Show. Usually it wasn’t my favorite shows that came on but ones I learned to like anyway: The A-Team, Little House on the Prairie, M*A*S*H, Press Your Luck (No whammies! No whammies!), or Dukes of Hazzard. I never did care for the Dukes of Hazzard, actually.
After a few hours of TV I would walk into the kitchen and search through the canned soup cabinet (you know the one I hid the Tomato Soup in the back of). I would find loads of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. The problem with this was, I never liked Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. After sliding cans around a bit I smiled because I had found the soup I was looking for right where I had carefully chosen to place it. When my sisters and I went grocery shopping with my mom I was IN the grocery cart. My sisters helped my mom pull things off the shelf. Maybe that was their job because they hadn’t gotten caught sneaking a 5 cent sample of Brach’s candy without paying… who knows. Anyhow, frequently while they were busy selecting 10 or so cans of their favorite Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup they would accidentally grab a can of Campbell’s Chicken & Rice Soup. This became my favorite soup and I was always quick to help with putting the groceries away. I had a special place for that one accidental can of Chicken & Rice Soup, all the way in the back of that cabinet right next to the Tomato Soup.
There seems to be a time of year when everyone knows someone home sick, and this is a perfect ‘sick at home’ soup.
