Your morning thought for today:
We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors... but they all have to learn to live in the same box.

They say the sense of smell is one of the most powerful ways to bring back emories -- they remind us of days gone by. Pamela shares a great story today about her grade school and Mrs. Miller's class, and why Noxema meant so much to her. Do they still print the school lunch menu in your local newspaper? Have a great day.

It's strange how something can trigger memories of the past that are buried somewhere in your mind. Yesterday, I picked up the Edina Sentinel and sat down to rest a minute and to read what was going on in the community. I glanced down and saw the school lunch menu for the week and suddenly my mind was back in Mrs. Jean Miller's 4th grade classroom again. I closed my eyes and I could still smell the Noxzema.

You may think that is really weird and wonder what that has to do with school lunch but let me tell you a little about Mrs. Miller's class. Mrs. Miller was a good teacher and I always remember how she used our legal names when she spoke to us. It made us feel rather grown up and important too. Instead of just the normal Betsy, Ronnie, or Pamy, in Mrs. Miller's class we were Elizabeth, Ronald, and Pamela.

Mrs. Miller was also very helpful and always saw to it that we had everything we needed. For instance, when there was something special going on in one of Baring's two churches, the school children were allowed to attend. If there was something at St. Aloysius, Mrs. Miller would take bobby pins and attach folded Kleenex tissues in the girl's hair so they would have a hat for church. (I remember wishing I were Catholic so I could have a Kleenex hat but my mother didn't think that was really a reason to convert.)

There were a few of us in grade school who helped in the lunch room. After lunch each day, we would stay and clean tables, wash dishes, and do whatever needed to be done. I guess they probably didn't print the menu in the newspaper back then but it didn't matter because you knew pretty much what you were going to have to eat by the day of the week. For instance, we had roast beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy on Wednesdays and on Fridays we either had ocean perch or tuna casserole. I even learned to like tuna casserole after a few years. Of course to us kids, one of the benefits of working in the lunch room was getting a few minutes out of the classroom.

Friday was the best day of all, however, because that was when we had ice cream bars for dessert. (This sort of made up for the tuna casserole). After we were done with our work, we were allowed to divvy up the left over ice cream bars between us and we would mash them up in a bowl and eat them. If attendance was down that day, we might even end up with 3 apiece! We never told the other kids that we got the leftover ice cream bars because we were afraid if our secret got out, they would all want to work in the lunch room!

When we came back from lunch room duty, Mrs. Miller would ask us to come up to her desk and she would open her desk drawer and offer each one of us some Noxzema to use for hand cream. I remember how cool it felt on my hands and I would cup my hands to my face and breathe in the fragrance. So, you see, that's why Noxzema brings back all those memories. Sometimes it's good to wake up and smell the Noxzema’ and to remember being a child again.

by: Pamela Blaine

Pamela says: "I am married to Michael and have recently moved back to Baring, Missouri (Pop. 200) where I grew up and this story took place. I have 4 children and 4 grandchildren. I play piano and enjoy writing songs, stories, poems and email. One of my goals is to be able to write for my children and grandchildren so special memories will not be forgotten. You can see some things I have written on my webpage.

This story may not be reproduced in any way, without the author's written permission.