I was only trying to be
a good mother. Back in the 1960‘and 70’s
liver was considered to be the best, most nutritious food available. No other food had all the goodness of beef or
calves’ liver. That is, nutritionally it
was the best, aesthetically, well, pretty awful, in my opinion.
During that time I was
very conscientious about giving my young children the best in nutrition. The only question about liver was how
to get them to eat it. I,
myself, had a hard time, indeed, getting the slightest morsel down. The texture and the taste, I thought and
still think, are rather repulsive. But a good mother feeds her children
well. So I determined that once a year,
at least, liver would be served at the dinner table and consumed by all--even
if it were to be a very small amount. But
how to get them to eat it. What
was a mother to do.
Hallowe’en offered the
perfect situation. The children
typically would do their trick or treating as soon as they had finished their
dinner. Well, you know the rest. “You may go trick or treating after
you have finished your liver.”
said I to the three sweet, little, adorable faces with blinking eyes
looking at me in anticipation of the excitement of going out with their friends
for Hallowe’en fun. Ooow!! That was hard.
Was that cruel, or what. Oh well,
I wouldn’t make them eat much. Even just
a couple of bites! After all, it’s for
their own good. That’s why I’m doing
this, isn’t it. Isn’t that what any good
mother would do?
Interesting that when
my daughters, now old enough to be young grandmothers, recently reminded me of
these hallowe’en dinners of many years ago, I replied innocently, “I don’t
remember any of that!. Are you sure that
really happened? You know, I wouldn’t
touch the stuff even if I wanted to. It’s
full of cholesterol and toxins!”
The reality is that I
do remember, now that my memory has been tweaked. And, yes, this did happen, but I think only
once or maybe twice at most, not the many, many hallowe’en dinners that they
remember.
At the time those liver
dinners on Hallowe’en were not so funny to any of us. Eating liver was serious business. Now we know better. Now 45 years later, every Hallowe’en, we get
lots of laughs remembering the liver dinner--or was it dinners? I get teased a lot about this. I guess my kids grew up and came to
understand what it’s like to be a parent wanting to do the right thing for
their kids.
But as I look back on
it now, I realize I have mellowed a lot.
I don’t think I would make my kids do that now, especially on
Hallowe’en. Every once in a while, in
spite of the laughs, a vague, nagging feeling from deep inside emerges and
suggests that maybe that was kind of mean--making them eat liver. But, then, didn’t someone say that Hallowe’en
has its dark side.
© 31 Oct 2011
About the Author
Betsy has been active in the
GLBT community including PFLAG, the Denver women’s chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians
Organizing for Change). She has been
retired from the Human Services field for about 15 years. Since her retirement, her major activities
include tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a volunteer instructor
with National Sports Center for the Disabled, and learning. Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of
marriage. She has a close relationship with her three children and enjoys
spending time with her four grandchildren.
Betsy says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing
her life with her partner of 25 years, Gillian Edwards.
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