When I was in high school, my friend whom I called Pete, would bring some very interesting and enviable lunches to school. She also would, on occasion, enjoy something from the hot lunch menu at the school.

I never took part in the hot lunches at my Catholic high school. I know many students did. The concept was something new to me because we didn’t have school-provided lunch choices in grade school. 

All my grade school lunches were toted to school in either a beloved lunch box or a plain brown bag. But in high school, there was a daily menu. I cannot describe those lunches as my usual noon meal came with me in a paper sack. 

However, it was a sacred ritual to get to school early and buy a few of the still-warm, out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies prepared by the dedicated lunch ladies. They were legendary and probably still are.

As for Pete, on Mondays, she would most often have a cold roast beef sandwich with yellow mustard made from her family’s Sunday beef roast dinner meal. She rarely shared a taste of that sandwich, but when she did, it was special. 

My family rarely had leftover anything let alone roast beef to make sandwiches. That’s the result of having seven hungry brothers. We survived on bologna, chipped ham and peanut butter and jelly. On a rare occasion, Mom would have made a double batch of meat loaf which resulted in a wonderful lunchtime sandwich.

On the days when spaghetti was on the menu at school, Pete would take two slices of white bread and make a spaghetti sandwich. I didn’t find that very appealing, so I went on to enjoy my chipped ham sandwich, also on white bread. Was there any other kind of bread worth eating? 

Recently I got curious as to what lunch menus at our local schools looked like today. I was not surprised to find pizza on menus, but there also was pasta salad, yogurt and fruit bars. 

I don’t think Pete would have liked any of that as much as her spaghetti or roast beef sandwiches. I miss Pete and her sandwiches. I think about her every time we go to Olive Garden. 

What’s in your lunch today? I’m having memories …

Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligener.net.