Allie and Emily
Our daughter, son and three of our grandchildren came to visit us for the Memorial Day weekend. Our little grandson was already sleeping, but my two little granddaughters, Emily and Allie were still getting ready for bed. They came running up to me fresh from their baths, all clean, powdered and dressed in their cute little summer pajamas. I threw a warm quilt around them and we all cozied up together on the couch. As I sat there hugging my little darlings...I was flooded with memories of my own childhood. I particularly remember how I loved the feeling, on a warm summer night, after my mother had just given me my bath. She would sprinkle baby powder all over me (I still love that smell!) and dress me in my soft, summer pajamas. Then my mother sat me down in front of her and she would wrap the locks of my hair around and around her finger and fasten the curls that she made with two bobby pins crisscrossing each other. By the time she was finished, my head was full of pincurls and bobby pins. We didn't have hairdryers back then, so I had to sleep on those hard pins all night. But the best part of the night came after the ritual of baths, pajama's and pincurls was finished. Dad would load us up, pajamas and all, in the back of the car (no seatbelts or carseats to hinder us!) and we would ride, bouncing with excitement, all the way down University Avenue to the DAIRY QUEEN!
It was 1955. I remember the date so well because it was when the Dilly Bar was first introduced and they were promoting the Dilly Bars by stamping the handle with special messages. I loved this special treat. No one could tell what the stamp on the handle said until all the ice cream was licked off. Sometimes it just said, "Dilly Bar"...but every once in awhile it would say, "free Dilly bar". Then the next time you came to the Dairy Queen, and you gave them the stick, you could get a free Dilly Bar.
That was great... but there was one prize I wanted even more than the "free Dilly bar"! It was to me the prize of all prizes. This prize sat on display in the window of the Dairy Queen among the other prizes. It was the one, special prize that I had my eye on! It was a beautiful, storybook, Dairy Queen Doll and she laid in her beautiful box, smiling at me every time I passed the store. I looked at that box longingly whenever we went there for a treat. She had auburn hair and she was dressed in a maroon, satin gown with a matching cape trimmed in fluffy white fur. She had on a matching maroon, satin bonnet that was also trimmed in the soft, white fur. Oh.....she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I wished for that doll every time I saw her. I dreamed about that doll. But...I never, ever thought I would be lucky enough to win her. You had to have the words, "you won", stamped on your Dilly bar stick to win that doll and I didn't think that I would ever stand a chance.
Then one night it happened. Dad went to the counter and ordered our dilly bars...he passed them out...I took mine and began to lick..lick..lick. I was anxious to see what my stick would say but I was scared too. Finally my ice cream was almost gone and I couldn't believe it! "Mommy!" I screamed. "Look at my stick! Did I win something?" I couldn't read very well but I knew that my stick was different this time. "Well, I guess you did win something!" my mother exclaimed. And there it was..."you won" written on my stick. I did it! I won! It was the first time I'd ever won anything! I proudly walked up to the counter in my pajamas and pincurls. My hand was shaking and probably very sticky too as I gave the man my stick. "I'd like the storybook Dairy Queen doll please, the one in the beautiful box, dressed in the maroon satin gown, trimmed with white fur." The man smiled and called out to everyone around him, "looks like we have a winner! Congratulations little girl!" He handed me the box with my beautiful doll smiling up at me. I've never forgotten that moment! I think it's why I love being all clean and powdered and in my pajama's on a warm spring evening! I think it's why on warm summer nights I have the sudden urge to jump into the backseat of our car and ride to the Dairy Queen.
And it's why... when I'm lonely and I need to relive a beautiful memory, I can reach up to the shelf in my closet, blow the dust off my old storage box, open it up and gaze at that same little Dairy Queen storybook doll. She still smiles at me, but her auburn hair needs restoring now and she's dressed in a faded satin gown, torn a bit from age and trimmed with matted fur. Still... she's a treasure to me and she reminds me of a time when I was so little, carefree and loved.
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