Technically, I’ll be sharing everything with my husband and his German Shepherd. It’s not a great neighborhood. The windows rattle from the vibrations of the cars on the 880 freeway just over the fence. Jets roar from the airport, and trains crash together in the railroad yard. People park cars on the lawn, and the apartment next door reeks of pot.
I don’t care. We will fill our apartment with my bedroom furniture, his parents’ green couch, my grandmother’s rocker, and my parents’ yellow Formica kitchen table and chairs. We will add the wedding and shower gifts: green bowls, silver pots, brown-and-white plates, blankets, towels, a big orange sign that says “Love,” and a “Fiesta red” crockpot in which I will cook tuna noodle casserole, following the recipe in the crockpot book.
The first time I make it, my husband doesn’t come home for dinner. I eat three helpings and give some to the dog. When the man does show up, I offer to reheat the casserole. He shakes his head and opens a beer.
He says it’s too dry and bland. I add more mushroom soup, another can of tuna, and a drop of hot sauce. He washes it down with a cold pinot gris.
The quiet hangs so thick I can grab it by the handful. I rattle the crockpot out of the jumble in the cabinet under the stove. I line up noodles, slivered almonds, tuna, peas, and mushroom soup, pull out the grease-stained recipe, and reach for the can opener I bought in 1974.
Author's Comment
It’s surprising how so much in life can change while so many everyday things remain the same. This simple casserole has stayed with me through two marriages, seven homes, and four crockpots—even though I was the only one who liked it.Tuna Noodle Casserole (adapted from the original cookbook that came with my first crockpot)
1 tsp. salt
½ c. finely chopped onion (less is okay)
1 8 oz. can peas with liquid
2 cans tuna
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
¾ can water
¼ c. slivered almonds
½ c. shredded Swiss cheese (optional)
“Duke sauntered across the schoolyard, dragging his feet in the dirt. When he got to the fence on the other side, he slowly turned around, as if afraid of what he might or might not see. I waved. He stared back.”
The heart-catching stories in Ada Glustein’s memoir, Being Different, tell a universal story about feeling different and longing to belong. She recounts tales of growing up in a Jewish immigrant family during and following World War II, and the experiences that stand out during her school days, not knowing how to fit in to the world beyond home. She reflects on her years of teaching diverse children who also experienced life as “different.” With her deep understanding of the importance of belonging, as seen through her own eyes and through the eyes of the children she encounters, she finds her own sense of belonging through helping those children find theirs.
Ada’s stories are told with humor and pathos: spilling the wine at her family’s Passover seder; slamming down her books when provoked by one of her Masters at teacher’s college; barely holding in her laughter at the antics of the woman who is housing her during her teaching practicum in a rural school; realizing that she has not included the right flesh color for one of her students to make his self-portrait; clutching three barefoot children outside in a blizzard, while waiting for the alarm bells to stop ringing; and, befriending the class bully to help her know that she, too, is an accepted and valued class member.
These stories remind us to embrace the visible and the invisible differences we all share as human beings on this planet.
Available from Amazon.
Sue Fagalde Lick loves to cook and loves to eat. A former California journalist who escaped Silicon Valley, Lick lives with her dog, Annie, in the forest on the Oregon coast. Her books include Stories Grandma Never Told, Childless by Marriage, and the novel Up Beaver Creek. When not writing, she sings and plays piano, guitar, and mandolin.
A poet and painter, Carmen Germain is the author of three poetry collections and has paintings and drawings published in various literary/art journals. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.
Beautiful story. A lifetime viewed through the mushroom-soupy lens of tuna casserole and crockpots. Tuna casserole holds a special place in my heart, because it’s what my then-young husband made me the night my waters broke, and I went into labor with our eldest, who is now in his forties. My recipe has evolved over the years, but it remains my go-to comfort dish.
Loved the story! I have also made almost the same tuna casserole for about 50 yrs. It has come with me throughout the various chapters of my life. Best wishes (and happy eating) for the future.
A humor and human interest columnist with a new book, I am trying to determine if I fit in your lovely publication.