Jill's Journal: Crumbs in the butter dish

I smiled to myself as I spotted some crumbs in my butter dish last week.

The tiny specks of toast “dust” made me think of my Dad.

You see, one of Dad’s pet peeves was crumbs in the butter dish. I remember buttering a piece of toast one morning during a weekend visit home, scraping the extra butter – sprinkled with crumbs - from my knife on the edge of the butter dish.

That little snafu constituted a mild “scolding” from Dad, but has long served as a reminder to leave the extra butter on the knife and not in the butter dish.

I remember memorializing the life-lesson moment – jabbing a little fun at Dad - in a column that I wrote for the weekly newspaper where I was working as the editor more than 20 years ago. 

There are hundreds of other little things that remind me of family and friends whom are no longer with us here on this Earth. For instance, when I see a can of Copenhagen, I instantly think of my Grandpa Schultz. He loved his “snoose” as he termed it so many years ago. And while Grandpa loved his “snoose,” Grandma Schultz didn’t. In his later years, she controlled when he could have “a pinch” and when he couldn’t. Grandma wasn’t overbearing, but instead was his caregiver following a stroke that dictated his need for a wheelchair and hospital bed.

On the day we buried Grandpa, my cousin Becky left a can of “snoose” at the base his tombstone, and I reckon Grandpa was smiling from Heaven above by the simple act.

In high school, I held down a part-time job as a cook at DeToy’s Family Restaurant, and had some fun-loving banter with Dick, the patriarch of the family-owned establishment. Dick had two obvious vices: Coffee and cigarettes, and I came across both as we manned the kitchen side by side during the lunch and supper rushes. Dick was famous for putting cigarettes on the edge of the counter, which, as you would expect, resulted in a burn mark.

Snickers candy bars brings my Grandpa Meier to mind. Grandpa loved candy - especially Snickers - and he loved to hide them from his grandkids. Following his passing, as we cleaned out cupboards, we found bags and bags and bags of miniature Snickers, and Grandma doled out the hidden treats to each one of her Snickers-deprived grandchildren.

Pretty stationary and dainty teacups and saucers resurrect memories of Grandma Meier. She always wrote her letters to us on flowery stationary and had a collection of teacups and saucers that were divided among her granddaughters following her passing.

Homemade jams and handmade quilts bring Grandma Schultz to mind. She was famous for making all kinds of jams and jellies, which she gifted to all of her grandchildren at Christmas. And for our high school graduations, my cousins and I were all fortunate to be gifted a quilt made by Grandma herself. 

With reminders from today’s techology, it’s funny to think that the little things in life can remind us of family and friends that meant so much to us, little things like crumbs in the butter dish or a charred kitchen counter.