I grabbed a milkshake and a Big Mac before work today and it reminded me of an incident from my past. When I was in grade school at West End Elementary, there was this very sweet but simple girl in my class. She was my friend although we didn't spend much time together. She came from a home with very little money and she took special education classes, but emotionally she was wise beyond her years. One day I was sitting with a group of girls in the lunch room when one of the girls started asking everyone at the table what they had for dinner the night before. Everybody had steak or Burger King or pizza...so when it came my turn to tell what my family had for dinner I totally lied. Said I had a Big Mac and a milkshake.
When my friend's turn came, she looked up from the lunch table and said "I had weenie goulash." Most of the girls laughed at her...I didn't. Because weenie goulash was exactly what my mom had prepared for dinner the night before. My mom always put the cheese packet from the box of macaroni in the goulash. It was delicious. It was always delicious.
I felt ashamed that day...certainly not because I had weenie goulash but because I didn't have the guts to tell the truth. After grade school, I transferred to a different school system for middle school and never saw my friend again. I later found out that she had been very ill and she passed away around 7th grade.
It has taken me 43 years to say this, but here it is. That night before I was asked in that elementary school lunch room, my mama had made goulash. That's what I had for dinner. Not a Big Mac and certainly not a milkshake. I had weenie goulash. And I loved every bite of it.
