Tomato Food To Us Be Blessed

I was probably around 12 years old when I started to think I was smarter than my parents.  Up until that time I never really questioned them.  I never really questioned anything.  I was the youngest in a large family and I was surrounded by adults and adult conversation.  I guess I just assumed they knew everything.  And if they didn’t, at least they knew more than me.  I was pretty naïve.   I followed the rules and recognized there was a hierarchy.

I was a loner and quite a spacy child, so I didn’t really seek out information.  I caught bits and pieces and then just filled in the blanks from my imagination.  The resulting scenarios made little to no sense but I never questioned them.  Like the Government.  I thought it was one person.  He seemed to have a lot of power, but no one seemed to like him.  I wondered what his real name was.  And if no one liked him, why was he in charge?  That was not how my group of 5 year old’s rolled.

As card carrying Lutherans we prayed before meals.  The last line in our go to prayer was “and may this food to us be blessed.  What I heard and subsequesntly repeated was “tomatoe food to us be blessed.”  I did have small qualms when we had meals without any tomatoes.  And yet, did I ever ask?  Nope.  I just kept thanking God for tomatoes.

I learned at a young age that the world was round.  I knew it to be true because people I trusted told me so.  Apparently many years before I was born there were some truly gullible people who thought the world was flat.  Fools.  But I did wonder how far you had to walk until you could touch the side.  I thought we lived on the inside of this big round earth. 

I was 6 when I found out my last name was Pedersen.  We were sorting through Christmas decorations one year and I found a home-made angel.  The back said “Anne Pedersen”.  Anne was my older sister.  When I asked what Pedersen was, my brother laughed hysterically.  A clue as to why I never asked questions.  Anyways, Mom explained it was our last name.  One that the family shared.  Hmmm.  Good to know. 

So by the time I was 12 I had learned some very important things.  My last name was Pedersen, there was more than one guy in the government, I lived on the outside of the earth and I was thankful to God for many things.  Especially tomatoes.  My parents had met their match and I was well on my way.  I had friends that knew things and I was venturing out into the world.