Our Kitchen

https://youtu.be/RLTJ95kj9ng

It is Saturday morning and I turned on the 70's online ration station and my mom's song pops up by Barry White and the Unlimited Orchestra, "Love's Theme".   Aww, what a powerful ballad released in 1973.  Took me back to those days when mom would listen to Barry White's vinyl album on the big console that was in our living room. It had a Am/ Fm radio with a turn table that would fit all size of  LP's / 45's records.  The speakers were built-in, they had a loud bass sound that would shake the windows throughout the house . This particular Barry White's  instrumental sounded amazing. Music was a great part of us growing up.  We would hear everything on that console day and night. This why I am familiar with many genres of music especially the wonderful 70's music .

 Now, let me tell you about Saturday mornings when our mom would get up fix us breakfast to my younger brother an I.  Eggs ,bacon, toast and OJ. Yum yum .    While mom would dishes and set them to dry, would sit and listen.  This was a great time to hear her stories of growing up in Mexico with how she was raised by her Grandmother. Mom would then get all her cleaning supplies together to polish the furniture, mop floors and clean wwindows. Busy bee mom kept it all together. 

  We lived in a two-bedroom Barrack style home that my dad remodeled little by little.  Dad was a great handyman and was a master of all trades.   He worked in construction where he would get new updated materials to improve the look to the inside. The kitchen wood floors were knocked out. My dad then added vinyl flooring. It had green marble design. It looked beautiful.  He also installed new wooden cabinets that my mom painted avocado green it matched her icebox (refrigerator) and stove. The Formica countertop gleamed a touch of yellow and green on a stainless-steel sink.  Last but not least,  mom wanted sunlight, the small window was replaced by a sliding door and a Boston Fern was hung beside the cabinet wall .  The renovations took about a month and tough for my mom's daily use of her kitchen.  

This became a big project for their dream home , simply because these barracks were used for the military and then later sold to the public .  My mother convinced my dad to buy a large piece of land and the barrack. They were commonly placed on the outshirts of the city. Dad fixed it up up and boy  you couldn't tell where it came from. 

So of course kitchen was my mom's favorite room and to be changed first.  Then all the appliances and light yellow wallpaper glued on to brighten up the room.  One thing that was missing... a ding set ! 

 What I remember most was a special Mother' s Day when dad surprised her with a cute table with six chairs, similar to one one on the Brady Bunch Show.  wow !  Mom was so excited  with her new green dining set .  I don't know how many times a day she would wipe down that table because she wanted absolutely no fingerprints . Lol... The table was always clean and shiny like everything else in the house.  The smell of lemon furniture polish and PineSol is memories that will trigger those moments forever. 

When the cleaning was done, my tireless mom would jump in the shower sit the sofa near the front living room window. Mom would walk over to the console and the place the needle on the record and play the album all over again.    

...Simple times, simple life and the one and only Barry White .