You know how things just pop into your mind, and you don’t know why, and they don’t make much sense. Well, I had one of those pop-up moments today.

It happened while I was using my age-old hand mixer to whip up a surprise for Cindy. She buys Reddi Wip for her coffee. It costs her “a pretty penny” and doesn’t last very long. I always add a good amount of sugar and vanilla to a carton of heavy whipping cream to flavor it. She says my mixture tastes so much better than the Reddi Wip, and she does so much for me that I enjoy treating her with it when she least expects it.

Anyway, that caused me another pop-up moment when I recalled “being a kid again, doin’ what we did again.”

Mom was mixing up some whipped cream for probably her famous Jello fruit salad. All six of us kids were standing nearby just waiting for her to put that mixer down and share the beaters with us…one for you and one for me. If mom didn’t recall which of us was next in line to lick the beaters, we ALWAYS remembered and were eager to remind her that “It’s my turn.”

And, when she baked a pie, there was always a bit of dough left over. She would flatten out the dough with the rolling pin, lightly butter it, and added sugar and cinnamon. Then she rolled it length-wise and cut pieces that made it look like a colorful pinwheel. Next, it went into the oven again with six munchkins waiting around for it to come out of the oven to enjoy. And enjoy we did. “Nothin’ says lovin’ like something from the oven” and mom, not Pillsbury, did it best!

Also, when our Chocolatier made fudge, there were the six of us again, waiting for mom to put it in a pan in the refrigerator so that we could spoon whatever might be left over. Here again, mom, not Nestle “made the very best chocolate.”

There’s a moral to this story; she was the sweetest thing that ever happened to six Benson kids.

Sharon Benson Smith is a member of the writing class offered through the Cerritos College Adult Education Program. It is held off-campus at the Norwalk Senior Center.