Special
A friend of mine excitedly told me over lunch that he and his wife decided to do something special this past weekend. He got some wood and lit a small fire in the backyard. Then they sat and toasted marshmallows. I thought about for awhile, and realized that I haven’t toasted a marshmallow in 30 years, if not longer. S’mores are an even more distant memory. You just don’t do that with gas grills. What does one consider special today? When I was small, a second car was special. Ours was an old 1956 Plymouth with no carpet or radio. It had heat, and the heat was considered to be special. Of course, we had a one car garage, and could still walk to the bus line. In 1956, eating out was special. Once each month we would go to the Sunday buffet at the Pick Ohio Hotel in downtown Youngstown, or maybe to the Mural Room. From time to time we would go to Howard Johnson’s or to Shott’s on Market Street. But mostly we ate in. When fast food came down the pike, going to the walk up McDonald’s or