Skipper & Bananas

Once when I was four or five my mother and I met Lala (my Grandmother Todd) at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis on Monument Circle for a mid morning “snack”.  The Columbia Club was a rather high end club and hotel where Far & Lala stayed when coming to Indianapolis on business from Bloomington, Indiana.

For my mid morning snack I picked bananas and cream from the menu. I never will forget Lala saying to my mother “Do you really let him eat banana; they are not too good for your digestion.”  My mother said, “Yes, he always eats bananas.” 

Somehow I got the idea I should not eat very many bites as my Grandmother kept eyeing me and my mother (or so I thought). I kept eating one more bite then another and then I stopped. The waiter asked me why I was not eating them – I said nothing. 

For the last number of years, I eat bananas rather frequently – sometimes almost every day – they are rather high in sugar and that is not good, but also high in vitamins and that is good – besides, I like them. 

top - Lala & Far (Emily & Joseph Clinton Todd) 1939

Mary Elizabeth Neely Todd (1937) & Skipper (Joseph Hall Todd) (1939)