School Lunches

The other day I was reading a book that sparked some memories of elementary school lunches. The author of this book proposed that school lunches are an interesting topic to discuss, because everyone has memories of school lunches, and many times they are very similar. Now, this author's theory on school lunch memories has little to do with this post (although I don't necessarily disagree with her stance), except that it inspired me to think back on my own school lunches.

I was generally a "bring-your-lunch" kind of girl, although I did always buy my lunch on Thursdays. Thursdays were hot dog day, of course. Sometimes I also bought my lunch on fried chicken day or chicken patty day. Clearly, I had a very refined palate.

But usually, I had a lunch packed in a little insulated lunch box. This lunch usually included some combination of a sandwich (probably peanut butter and jelly), fruit (most likely applesauce), maybe some sort of snacky thing (pretzels, string cheese, Handi-Snacks) and a dessert (cookies, pudding). I generally bought a carton of chocolate milk from the cafeteria, and sometimes I would even get to buy an ice cream cup or ice cream sandwich for dessert. Those were good times.

But the most memorable part of my school lunches was the notes. I had a mother who packed my lunch for me every morning and always included a little note on a small slip of paper. This note usually was decorated with some kind of sticker, and included uplifting comments in my mother's handwriting. If my mom knew something was on my mind or I had something big going on that day, the note would always wish me luck and assure me she was thinking of me. If I had just done something good or there was reason to celebrate, the notes always included words of praise and congratulations. Sometimes the notes were a bit more simple, and just expressed how much she loved me. They were always signed, "Love, Mom" and I can still picture those words in her handwriting in my lunch box every day.

As I got older, I started to feel a little embarrassed of these notes. I mean, come on. How uncool is it to have Mommy sending you love letters in your lunch box on a daily basis? HELLO, it's not cool at all. I started to keep the notes in my lunch box, pretending to dig around for my sandwich or my string cheese while I actually unfolded the note and read it to myself. As far as I can remember, I never told my mom that her notes would only increase my nerd-factor if they were ever discovered by my classmates. And if I was ever discovered, I probably would have told people that I knew how totally lame my mom was, but didn't want to tell her and hurt her feelings.

But really, that was only a partial truth. Sure, I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I never wanted to tell her that I read her notes in secret because I knew she would respect that and stop writing them. I didn't want her to be sad every day when she made my lunch but skipped the note. But even more so, I didn't want the notes to stop. I liked them. It was nice to have that little reminder of her love and support in the middle of my school day.

I even saved a bunch of them. I don't know where they are now, but the ones that really touched me came home with me and were stashed away. Maybe these notes were especially congratulatory or filled with praise, like if I did well at my band concert. Maybe these notes were comforting, like when our family moved to Florida and I didn't want to go, or when our dog died. Maybe these notes had particularly funny jokes or stickers that I liked. Or maybe I just liked to see "I love you, my Meghan" in my mother's handwriting.

Today, on Mother's Day, I just want to thank my mother for giving me such a positive memory in my school lunch. It was nice to have a little mid-day reminder that she was always thinking of me. I'm sure someday, I'll do the same for my kids. And I'll try to remember not to be hurt if they tell me to knock it off as they get older!

Thanks for the notes, Mom. I love you, too.