I wrote this 1/17/2002 and thought I would repost it today. It is about Christmas Eve, 1985, but you will understand what I am talking about.
Cookies: I was talking with a woman at the gym real early this morning. We were talking about the very best cookies we had ever had. My best cookie memory is of a box of chocolate chip cookies I received from my Mom. It was 1985. I was in the Navy and stationed onboard the USS Yellowstone, and we were tending tin cans (Destroyers). We were in the middle of a Med Cruise. It was Christmas and we were med-moored in the harbor in Naples, Italy. It was very cold and rainy. The reason I remember it as “my best cookie memory” is that I received these cookies and had forgotten a couple I had saved for the 20-24 watch on Xmas eve (Christmas morning).
I was on watch on the Flight deck of the ship. There was a driving rain and real cold. Let’s put this in perspective to get you to understand how hard it was raining. The rain was coming down so hard, my boots “filled up” with rainwater. I was standing on the flight deck which is completely flat (with the exception of the helicopter tie-downs). I think that the water was three inches deep on the flat surface of the flight deck and it was blasting down literally in sheets. (Strange how you remember “all” the terrible times and only a “few” of the good times) This is weather that most people don’t leave their dog out in, let alone stand out in themselves. In Florida, they usually throw the deck/lawn furniture into the pool at times like this to keep it from becoming a missile hazard.
Sidebar: Earlier in the evening, I had gone and picked up a package from the Post Office onboard the ship. There was an unusual mail-call in the late afternoon that day. Sometimes it’s good to be the one with the Post Office access for the division (heh heh heh). Anyway, I picked up my package. It was rather smashed, crumpled, (and looked like the gorillas in a sampsonite commercial where handling the package) and went back to the Foundry. Everyone was curious to see what I received. Considering how homesick everyone was, you can understand. We had been gone for over 5 months by then. You also have to take into consideration that there was nothing to do on the ship except watch more reruns of movies we had seen at least 40 times. Well, I returned to the shop and everyone was there, all 13 people in the shop (bumming). Everyone gathered around and pretended to not be interested in what I received. I opened the box and whatever it was; it was packed in this regular, dry, unsalted popcorn. It is funny how many people were all smiles because of a box of popcorn. We had not even bothered to look deeper yet. the idea of that we had some unsalted popcorn to munch was good enough a reason to make everyone jump. I think that had to be the best popcorn we all had ever had too, since the kids in the Foundry ate all the packing in 10 minutes. And it was nasty popcorn too.
As everyone steadly disposed of the now unneeded packing material, I began to dig through the popcorn to see if Mom had sent me a big box of popcorn or if there was something else. Wow! !. So now a previously unhappy bunch was up, smiling and devouring this new found treat. So we all snarfed down that popcorn and munched cookies like they were going out of style. Everyone would take a big handful of popcorn, eat it down, smile and then say, “Man, that popcorn is really nasty” and then someone else would grab another big handful and just say “but it’s sure doesn't seem to be bothering anyone!” We laughed so hard about that “packing” until we cried.
Back to the cookies: Well, I had put two of those cookies in my coat pocket, so I would be sure I would have a couple for myself for something like a "Christmas present from home". The best part was I forgot the silly things until I was almost off watch. it was about 2300. Like I said, the rain was just coming down like getting sprayed with a 4” fire hose (for you “civilians”, that is a lot of water). Well, my gloves were full of water too. So I took them off so I could put my hands in my coat pocket which was wet but not yet full of water. And there they were. Two Chocolate Chip cookies! I doubt that I (or anyone for that matter) could have been happier. OK, let me say it this way….
Ya gotta love those chocolate chip cookies! The funniest part of the whole thing is that several years later, I was talking about this and telling her how good those cookies were and she told me that they were not “homemade”, but from a box. I guess it does not matter how they were made, sometimes, a couple of chocolate chip cookies is all anyone needs to make for one of the best Christmas (of cookie) memories ever.
Merry Christmas
