“Half a loaf is better than no bread.”

—Traditional Proverbs

Today’s story is from GiGe Neck.

My name is GiGe. I am 11. This is a story about breakfast. And oatmeal. And a lesson from dad.

GiGe

My mom was out of town. My mom normally makes my breakfast. Dad’s turn to be chef for the day. Will Dad burn the house down?

“What do you want for breakfast,” Dad says. I say, “Anything is fine.” Dad’s cooking skills are not the best. I’m thinking he’ll pull out the box of Frosted Flakes.

“How about oatmeal? I have a secret family recipe I’ve never told you about,” Dad proudly says.

I don’t want to hurt his feelings so I say, “sure.” But I’m not “sure” given I don’t like what oatmeal looks like and I’ve never tasted it before.   

Dad seems to be struggling in the kitchen finding the ingredients.

“GiGe, Where is the pot? Where are the oats?”

I’m getting hungry. Finally after what seems like an hour, Dad calls me into the kitchen and says it is time for breakfast.

Holy cow!
In front of me is a monstrous bowl of what looks like mush.

I take a breath and put a spoon of this nasty looking stuff in my mouth.

YUK! “Dad, this is horrible. I’m sorry, but I can’t eat this stuff!”

“Oatmeal is better than NO meal” replies my dad.

“What?,” I say. Dad pulls a chair close and tells me a story. When he was growing up, times were tough. His dad and mom worked hard to put food on the table.

At times, the only food in the house was oatmeal. Sometimes they had oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When they were hungry, oatmeal seemed like the greatest meal in the world. It filled the belly.

Whenever he and his brother would complain about having oatmeal again, his dad would say, “Oatmeal’s better than NO meal.” This was his dad’s way of telling his family that any food was better than not having food at all. My dad is a good storyteller.

I took another bite of oatmeal. You know it wasn’t that bad.

And it was better than not having any breakfast at all.

Oatmeal is better than NO meal.