I've had a secret stash for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, I always kept a chocolate bar or two in my night table drawer. Why, you may ask? It was an insurance policy. I used to think that in case I'm sent to bed without dinner, I'll have something to tide me over until morning. Thing is, I was never, ever sent to my room (not that I didn't misbehave...let's get that straight from the get go), let alone sent without dinner. I have no idea where I got this thought in my head (TV?), but for years and years, there was an O Henry bar in my drawer. It never got eaten. It just sat there because, well, you never know.
This stash thing goes back generations in my family. We lived with my grandmother, and she always had what seemed to be an endless supply of mints in her purse that she would pull out at any given moment. And these weren't just any mints. They were clear, rectangular 'silver' mints that she would buy at Eaton's candy department. Invariably during car rides she would ask, "Would you like a mint?". Before anyone could answer, the clip of her purse would open. Nanny, as we called her, would dig in and pull out a few. "Here! Na!", she would say with a nod and a smile. Even if I didn't want one, I'd take one.
Some people and their stashes have made life extra special for me. Near the top of my list growing up was the 'old' man at shul (when you're 6, anyone over 20 is old) who had a magic tallis bag. He had an endless stash of candies for all of the little kids who passed by his seat. It was actually worth going to shul for the candies. This man had a great stash, no doubt about it, but there are stashes, and then there are magical stashes.
Far and above all others when it comes to stashes that appear out of nowhere, is our old neighbour and father to my bestest childhood friend. The man who my children call Uncle Jack is in a class by himself. From the day I met him as a little girl, to this very day in his very vibrant, early 90's, he has always been able to somehow produce candy at any given moment from every pocket of his clothing. Just when you think there couldn't be any more, Uncle Jack is able to make boxes of Smarties appear from nowhere. His can only be deemed a miracle stash!
For me, my secret stash has always been about 'just in case'. In our house, the last few drops of every pot of chicken soup goes into a small container and straight into the freezer. It's always just enough soup for one person. That little container of leftover liquid is not taken lightly; in fact, I believe I can safely say that my children consider it holy. It even has its own name; it's known affectionately as, 'emergency chicken soup'. If someone comes home from school or work feeling sick, there's always chicken soup if needed. It's soup stash.
And it seems as though the concept has managed to catch on to the next generation. I received a phonecall from a stuffy nosed daughter-o'-mine a while back, asking me what I had used as criteria for dipping in to the emergency chicken soup stash. "Do you have a fever?" I asked. "Okay", she replied, "I get it", thus ending the conversation. I don't know if she ended up using hers or not, but I suppose there must always be unwritten laws, even for secret stashes.
Secret stashes are naughty and comforting at the same time. They can, at the best of time, be used to delight and surprise others with their sudden appearance.
Does everyone have a secret stash, I wonder? Do you?
Yes.
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