I was able to get an appointment for 10:30; and thankfully, the Dr. assessed that it appeared to be an infected gland; which was unaccompanied by other symptoms or illness. The Dr. prescribed an antibiotic and some sour, sucking candy. No need to read that again; I DID say SOUR, SUCKING CANDY; like Sour patch kids or lemon heads etc. The Dr. explained that sometimes little nodules form in the gland and the sucking motion and the sourness of the candy, somehow helps to shrink it. I looked it up (yes, I did;) and found a few references to sour, sucking candy and swollen glands, but nothing definitive; Queen of RESEARCH that I'm not.
It was just about lunchtime after Nicky and I purchased the yogurt that the Dr. recommended to counteract the anti-biotic; and the sour, sucking candy; and I suggested that we get "Real" Pizza. Now surely I'll explain. I put pizza into two different categories. Category one includes: Pizza Hut, Domino's, Hungry Howie's, Little Caesar's, Sam's, Costco etc. Category two includes New York Style, Pizzeria Pizza; which in our area would be purchased at Number One Brother's, Ray's, NYPD etc. The pizza in category one, tends to be a little less expensive; but it's also not nearly what I would refer to as authentic pizza. The pizza in category two, is about as close to New York pizza as I'm going to get for quite some time; and since it's been 17 years since I've actually had Pizza in New York; it's as similar to what I can remember it to tasting like. If you know what I mean.
Luis didn't grow up eating pizza; and he's not the biggest fan; so we don't order it very often. When we do, it's usually pizza from a category one place; and it's typically just the kids that eat it. But today, I was in the mood for "Real" pizza and Nicky was the perfect person to share it with; because out of the three of my kids; he is the one with a profound predilection for pizza.
After making two trips to the Pharmacy; we were able to head home to enjoy our lunch. Nicky and I took a bite of our respective slices and we were both in heaven. It's amazing how great something can taste when you haven't had it in a while. While eating my cheese slice, I travelled through my Pizza Timeline and recalled the pizza places that my family used to go to when I was a kid. Richie Howell fancied himself a foodie (even though that wasn't even a term back in the day;) and he drove out of his way to get what he considered to be "Good" pizza. While some that lived in the condo, were happy to get their "pie" from Mr.Pizza, just two minutes away; Richie Howell was content to drive 10 minutes away to Peppino's, for his. I remembered the meatball pizza that I loved from The Nanuet Hotel, and the stuffed pizza from La Pizziola in Southampton; and how I stupidly ate it the night before my tonsillectomy, when I couldn't have water after midnight. I recalled the early 90's and grabbing a slice of pizza in the Bronx after leaving a bar with my roommates; and then I was brought back to present day and the perfect piece of pizza that I was enjoying with my extraordinary, son.
It's absolutely amazing how a bite of a food; can cause you to time travel. In the few minutes that it took me to eat my slice (OK, two slices) of pizza; I went from being a 43 year old, mom in Arizona to being a kid in New City, a teen in Piermont, a young adult in Southampton; a 20something year old in the Bronx and back to a 43 year old, pizza loving mama, in Arizona. YUM! What a delicious journey.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
No comments:
Post a Comment