A Repetitive Lunch I Will Always Treasure

Turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread, does not seem very noteworthy. For me it is. It was 1976 and I was an 8th grade student. Spring City Middle School was housed in the old Spring City High School, both of my parents went to it as a high school. During the years it was a high school, students could walk the three blocks to town to enjoy lunch at either Robinson's Drug Store or The Double Q Drive-In. Once the school became middle school younger students such as myself were not longer allowed to leave the campus for lunch. However, as my great grandmother lived only a block from the school, and my mom was a teacher, I was allowed to walk to Granny’s house each day for lunch. Every now and then my teacher, Mrs. Montez Williams, would give me money to go on into town and buy her a can of coffee before I returned. She always kept a percolator of coffee going for teachers on the 1st floor to enjoy.

When I got to Granny's she would have the TV on so we could watch Perry Masson during lunch (I would only be able to see the 1st thirty minutes of the case before I had to return to school, so I would return after school let out and Granny would tell me how the case was solved.) Other times we would listen to Jim Reeves records as we talked.

Even without going to have lunch with Granny each day I would see her most every morning or afternoon. She lived beside my Grandmonmmie, her mother, most of my childhood, she was fairly independent but my family was always big on checking in on each other. All of the years we lived in Spring City my dad would go down for a cup of coffee every morning to check in on both of them. Once he got 10 miles down the road and realized he forgot to stop, her turned around to correct that. I too would almost daily check in on both sets of grandparents and both great grandmothers until I went off to college.

That first Monday lunch she prepared turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread, and something for dessert. It was great to have a hot home cooked meal AND be able to have lunch with my granny. Being able to leave school while other students were not allowed to was a great bonus. Mrs. Willams seemed to like the fact that Granny sent me back to school with either cookies, cake, or pie for her each day.

Of course, I told Granny how much I enjoyed the lunch and was looking forward to being able to come have lunch with her every school day.

Tuesday… turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread; Wednesday… turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread; Thursday… turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread; Friday… turnup greens, corn on the cob, bake potato, and cornbread.

Yes, Granny fixed me the same lunch, everyday for 6 months! Being raised well, and being grateful to have a great grandmother that was able and willing to cook me a hot lunch each day, I did not dream of mentioning that it might be nice to mix things up. This menu stayed the same until there were no turnip greens fresh or frozen to be found.

Then, chicken pot pie! Now, this was a store-bought Banquet pot pie, but it was steaming hot and something different.

Old habits are hard to break, so I once again went on and on about how much I enjoyed the pot pie. The menu for the last 3 months of school was a chicken pot pie. Pot pie every day.

Once I was off to college, I sure missed those turnip greens and even the chicken pot pies. Whenever I was home for the weekend and found myself at Granny’s and asked what sounded good, I would always ask for turnip greens.

Turnip greens remain on of my favorite foods, and those 8th grade lunches cooked with love by my great grandmother is a memory I treasure with all that I am.

Mrs. Williams was one of my all-time favorite teachers and when she died, I went back to Tennessee for her funeral. You remember I took her something sweet back from Granny's each day. Well at her funeral another teacher came up to me and said that she sure did enjoy all the goodies I brought to Mrs. William. I was confused. Turns out Mrs. Williams was diabetic and could not eat the sweet I brought to her, so she took turns passing them on to the other teachers on the first floor. Seems she did not want to embarrass me by telling me she had no use for my Granny's kindness.