Elvis Has Left the Building
Saturday, Oct. 04, 2003, 8:25 p.m.

QUESTION: What everyday items do we take for granted everyday?

WHAT I LEARNED: The average household holds many ordinary treasures.

Goodbye to the old�

We say goodbye today to a soldier of the cold wars. Many a refrigeration battle was fought within its gold-tone borders as it kept the world safe for mayonnaise, butter, and cold cuts- all kinds. Room was made for the refugees of holiday dinners � unwieldy containers of mashed potatoes, sticky bowls of cranberry sauce � jellied and whole berry, turkey � sliced, with and without gravy, a variety of pies � most notably pumpkin, and the obligatory containers of eggnog. The aged were always welcome � old salad dressing, a bottle of beets, large olives with pimentos, a can of grapefruit segments, and the oldest jar of butterscotch in the world. It did not matter the station one held in life � Evian Water hung out with a jug of filtered tap water and the Grey Poupon mustard rubbed shoulders with the grocery store relish. Diversity was the name of the game as a container of snow gathered in January rested snuggly next to glow-in-the-dark necklaces from a summer outing at the local theme park.

Visitors were always welcome too � restaurant doggy bags full of the last remnants of miscellaneous meals, and containers of half eaten Chinese dinners found a safe haven in its soft white interior glow. No one was turned away � not the single cabbage roll, or the leftover pasta, or the half a steak and cheese, or the open can of Coke. The light was always on � day and night - for any who chose to stop by. I for one, often basked in the cool safe light that spelt midnight snack in the wee small hours of the morning.

Thank you, old veteran of our small suburban kitchen, for your years of loyal service. Your gold-tone exterior was an act of bravery and a statement of persistent cheerfulness. I applaud you for the daily kindness of keeping us all well fed over the years and for the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, late night sugar cookies, ice cream concoctions, and miscellaneous snacks and beverages you kept conveniently on hand for us 24/7. We will see you in old family videos and smile at your golden insolence, marvel at the sea of magnets that covered every inch of you, and exclaim at your stalwart nature throughout years of toddlers hanging off your handles and teenagers standing interminably before your open door foraging for the perfect snack.

You may have been wheeled out of the front door this morning but you will always form a piece of our history and a part of what made our house a home for the last 20 years. For that, I sincerely thank you and say a fond and heartfelt farewell.

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