A Conversation

My favorite food is ice cream.

What’s yours?

Pizza.

Why?

You remember your dad bringing home pizza every Friday night. And your mom was more relaxed than usual. And you could serve yourself. And eat with your hands in front of the TV. And instead of milk, Pepsi.

Nice.

Why is ice cream my favorite food?

See that Chocolate Pecan Tornado in the photo.

I took the photo two weeks ago because it would be my last Tornado until spring. I also took this one later in the day. I’m not the only one who would be sad after the last spoonful.

Do you have pizza every Friday night?

Like clockwork, for sixty years. I’m not surprised.

Ice cream has been my favorite food for about that long, too. After mass on Sunday, my father would have pancakes ready for us. He didn’t go to church. When my mom and he were married in 1948, the priest insulted him because my dad was a Protestant. That was it for him.

During the summer, we would eat breakfast on the patio he built and rebuilt. A few hours later, the five of us (Paul, Peter, Pat, and Mom and Dad) would pile in our station wagon and head down to Iowana Dairy on the Mississippi Riverfront. We would sit at the counter and order an ice cream malt or sundae for lunch. I always ordered a chocolate malt that could only be eaten with a spoon. The straw was for show.

Everyone was relaxed and happy.

That’s why, six decades later, I still feel like a part of me has died with every last spoonful.

Do you feel that way every Friday with that final bite of crust? Like a small part of you has died.

I understand. There’s always next Friday. You are lucky. There are 52 Fridays in a year.

What’s that?

Sometimes 53, in a leap year. And 2024 is a leap year, but only 52 Fridays.

Interesting. Wait a minute. You said next year, there is a February 29.

Why does that matter to me?

That means an extra day before Whippy Dip reopens. It usually starts up again sometime in April, often Easter weekend.

Easter is early in 2024, on March 31, you say.

Fantastic, but why do you know this?

I see. You fast during Lent and give up pizza. And Good Friday is the last supper without pizza. And during Lent, you replace pizza with fish tacos. But no Pepsi.

Nice.

Do I ever give up ice cream?

Tornados, October through March.

But there’s always Breyer’s Chocolate.