They loved bourbon.
My head barely crested the orange laminate counter in our kitchen, enough to reach the jigger and the glasses and the bottle if I stood on my tippy toes. Bouncing around the house and perpetually looking for something new to do and a way to serve, I learned how to make their drinks. It was simple, really; though with appreciation for the twenty plus years that have passed, I’ve forgotten the specifics. Three ice cubes? Two big jiggers of 7-up? Maybe a few of the stinky brown stuff? Maybe it was straight on the rocks…
I only have one memory left of drink delivery, and it was to them in bed. Whether it was morning or night, I can’t recall. Dad was in a t-shirt with rumpled hair, mom was in a housecoat and smoking a More.
The smell of the drink or the mention of the name prompts that one memory above all others, and I’m transported back in time like a badly placed flashback scene in a sitcom. Little me knew enough to be a touch sad, albeit proud of her accomplishment.
I hate bourbon.
03 Jan 08
1:52 pm
It was a jigger of the brown stuff at first, but later it was two. Three or four ice cubes. Enough 7-up to top it off – no need to stir. A stolen sip from the cold fizzy can as a secret reward. Repeat daily at 5pm or as needed.
Love you.
03 Jan 08
7:42 pm
I recall one evening when I wanted to play a funny on Dad and I threw a few ice cubes in the glass, filled it with Jim Beam with a wee splash of 7-up. He laughed at me but ended up drinking the equivalent of 4 or 5 shots in one little drink. Then the ridiculous jokes and funny stories arrived. Ah the fun we had on Mars.
03 Jan 08
9:41 pm
You guys lived near Ivy growing up, right? He often made breakfast in bed for his mother. She worked nights at the bar and sometimes took home a random friend. He didn’t mind making the “breakfast”…that way they’d hold the noises down so he and his younger sister and brother could watch Scooby Doo on Saturday morning without the plywood walls shaking.
Ivy hates bourbon, too. That’s why I drink Malibu.
04 Jan 08
9:31 am
Awwww…I’m sniffing here…….
04 Jan 08
8:13 pm
I wish I had something worthy to put here. I don’t, so I’m just putting this – so you know I wanted to put something there.
05 Jan 08
12:46 am
I have to say smell is the biggest memory jogger for me. I can walk into an old house, and if it smells like my grandma’s house… boom! Let the memory floodgates open!
Pisser about the bourbon though. Me likey the bourbon.