Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Where everybody knows your name

I’ve lived in a lot of small towns in my life. When I was a kid and Daddy’s job moved to another town, we packed up and went along with him. I got to know a lot of people that way and I liked it. In every case, the townspeople were accepting and friendly toward newcomers.
In school, I was treated as a celebrity until I melded with new friends who eventually made me one of their own. Their names and faces are a blur to me now but they shaped who I was to become and made me very amenable to new people, different ideas. They were the basis of what was to make me a small town girl for the rest of my life.
I recall the lyrics of the theme song from Cheers that echo my feelings so well. Hum along with me:
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
I like walking into a store and being greeted by my first name. Some people are averse to this. They think it is presumptuous, disrespectful. I think it is friendly. I’ve lived in big cities where you are always treated as a stranger, a number. I hated it and couldn’t wait to get back to my roots. Maybe that’s why these people look so sour all the time.
My son recalls the time he was in New York City and stopped at a newstand to get a newspaper. He picked up one and was scanning through it when the vendor barked, “either buy it or put it back in the rack.” Down here in Tennessee, he could have read the paper, had a cup of coffee with the vendor, and put the paper back in the rack. That’s the way we are down here in Hooterville and it suits me fine.
I recall one little town back in the mountains that made its own laws and carried them out, kinda like vigilante justice out of the old west. When we moved there, we were skeptical about how the town would receive us — newcomers were always suspect. Besides, Daddy had been sent there by the government to build a new stone courthouse because the old wooden structures were burned down every time someone was convicted that didn’t exactly set right with their kinfolks. And we were afraid they would make Daddy a target seeing that he was superintendent of the project.
But Daddy sensed the atmosphere into which he had walked and was a good boss to his workers. He also knew better than to report a missing worker in case the worker had been shot by a neighbor over a property line. This was a common occurrence back in those hills and little was done about it.
The upshot of living in this old west atmosphere was that the people accepted us with open arms as long as we knew what the rules were. Many mornings we woke up to find fresh sausage, farm produce and even a live chicken on our front porch. We knew it came from the men who worked for Daddy, proving that they had hearts of gold as well as a quick trigger finger if anyone done them wrong.
My upbringing is a kaleidoscope of varied and unusual people and places but one that I wouldn’t change for anything.  It taught me that people are all the same. That their troubles are all the same. I’m proud of my small town roots and what they have taught me.
One final story and then I’m through. I remember the days when all you had to do on a summer evening was to sit on the porch and watch cars go by. Once in awhile, we’d notice a car with a family who had left our small town to go up north to the big cities to work and make lots of money. They’d come back home with big tales of how exciting life was and how they could never again live in a one-horse town like Corbin. But we noticed they came back home a lot.

Strawberry Angel Cake Dessert

1 (10 inch) angel food cake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1 (18 ounce) jar strawberry glaze

Crumble the cake into a 9×13 inch dish.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped topping. Mash the cake down with your hands and spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake.
In a bowl, combine strawberries and glaze until strawberries are evenly coated. Spread over cream.
 Chill at least two hours before eating.