Silly Moments
Ice Cream
We lived on the sixth floor of a Lefrak apartment building, it was just my mom, my sister Liwanda and my baby brother Les at the time. The summers were the absolute worst, there was no air conditioning, but my mom was creative, she would pile blankets on the oversized terrace, and we would all sleep out there catching whatever breeze we could. I remember one night we were all in our pajamas, I was ten years old, my sister Liwanda was six years old and our baby brother Les was four years old. My mom told me to help my siblings get their shoes on, and my mom went into her room and put on clothes. It was late, how late I cannot remember but my mom lead us down the long hallway of our apartment building, onto the elevator and down to the basement parking lot. We got into the backseat of her Chevy Monte Carlo and hit the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. Our eyes lit up when we realized we were in Coney Island.
We could not get out the car with pajamas on, but my mom parked right in front of the ice cream/candy shop. My mother made two trips into the store, she bought Les and Liwanda’s ice cream out in cups and then on her final trip she handed me a soft serve pistachio cone. We all sat in the car enjoying our ice cream and when we finished, we returned to our makeshift beds on the terrace, it was spontaneous and a memory that last a lifetime.
Tonight, when the rain stopped and the end of the tropical storm cleared out of the DMV area, my husband Martin was applying weed killer to the lawn when I came out and sat on the porch, the clouds were moving out and the sunset was beautiful, the humidity was letting up and the night air felt so perfect after such a miserable day. My mind took me back to that Lefrak night and as I watched Martin spray the lawn, I suddenly had the urge to jump in the car and take a ride to the ice cream shop. It was not the best idea as I had spent the last eight weeks eating dairy free, so as I kept negotiating with myself. When Martin finished, I asked him if he wanted to take a ride to get ice cream and he was like sure let us do it. So, with my hair looking crazy, I had no makeup on, I slipped on flip flops, grabbed the car keys and off we went.
Martin drove on the highway; we could see the moon so clear and beautiful. The ice cream shop was lit up, we ordered our sundaes and sat in the car, our favorite love song list playing, people watching and talking until we finished. It was a spontaneous silly move and yes that ice cream sundae blew my calorie count for the day, but it took me back to a happy, a simple time in my life. It was fun, it was a little silly, but we enjoyed the simple moment of joy that taking a car ride and eating ice cream gave us. Perhaps we should have more silly moments, spontaneous moments, more moments that are not strategically planned but free flowing moments of happiness.
My favorite ice cream sundae, loaded with lots of cherries and wet walnuts.
