Eating Oreo's on the Kitchen Counter - Portfolio

In class we discussed Marcel Proust's, "The Madeleine." The story was about a Madeleine cookie soaked with tea and how this combination of flavor brought Marcel back to his childhood. This is called a "Proustian Moment." When I think about proustian moments, they are related more to smell. The smell of Lilacs brings me back to a summer day in Sweden 7 years ago. A whiff of cologne or perfume will bring to mind someone that I had forgotten about. I don't have too many memories that are connected to food, that if consumed, would bring me back to an exact moment. But after searching through the recesses of my memory I came up with one.

On a hot summer day when i was 5 years old, I was playing outside with a pair of cheap flip flops on that did not fit me properly. I was climbing all over a wooden fence that had been knocked down between my house and my neighbors house. I had friends next door so this is they way we would go between our yards. I misstepped and my flip flop fell partially off. I felt something strange on my foot, some sort of pressure. Whatever it was it didn't hurt but felt strange. I looked down to see what was going on, and I nearly passed out, my foot was bleeding heavily. I had stepped on an old rusted nail. I immediately began screaming and my mother rushed out. She helped me get inside and began cleaning up the wound. She sat me on the kitchen counter (which I was never allowed to do) and gave me several Oreo cookies, hoping to distract me so I would stop crying. I remember she called the doctor to see if I needed to come in for a tetanus shot but I had one already. At this point I had calmed down and was perfectly content with my handful of Oreo cookies. Whenever I eat a Oreo cookie I always think back to this time and how such an awful situation turned into a happy memory.

I also have not so fond memories that resurface when I think about a certain food. When I young I got violently sick after eating Spaghetti. It took me years before I could eat spaghetti again. I'll eat spaghetti if that is the only food being offered but i would never order spaghetti from a menu and I'm convinced it's because of this bad memory that is associated to food.

Okay thats it for now, until next week...