Little did I know where the picking of vegetables would end up. It seemed to be just a perfectly timed Summertime activity that engaged our grandchildren until the burgers and dogs were finished grilling. But it turned out to be so much more.

As our June 2016 Sunday Family Dinner wrapped up, our almost 6 year old grandson Oliver asked if he could take home a cucumber. “Even though I don’t really like how this cucumber tastes right now, can we turn it into pickles when you come over tomorrow, Gramma?!”

I had watched my Mom make bread and butter pickles every summer that I can remember. The thing I didn’t remember was how she did it. Of course I could google to find out, but why?

Oliver and I decided to make up our own version of shortcut pickling by putting the thinly sliced cucumber into an almost empty Nathan’s dill pickle jar. He wanted his creation to soak up the remaining “dill juice” to become like his favorite flavor of pickle. It was a taste preference inherited from his Mom.

We looked forward to the official tasting every two days. At first they were still too crunchy with not enough flavor, but before long Oliver declared “Just right. Who knew it would go from prickly to pickly!”

He was reminding me of how he and his cousins had played detective to find the hidden vegetables without getting prickled by the scratchy leaves.

I must admit, however, that my mind was drawn elsewhere while he was chatting away. I could almost hear my Dad crunching into a just-off the-vine cucumber from my childhood home’s backyard vegetable garden.

I tuned back in as Oliver cheered, “…and they even look TOTALLY more ALIVE than the others! That’s what we’ll name them…Oliver’s Totally Alive Pickles. OK Gramma?!”

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I’d love to support you in capturing moments that span generations and add more pickly-spiced aliveness and joy to your life upon each remembering. Let’s explore how to begin jotting, sharing and adding to your Family Mini-Stories Collection today…to keep your family close for life!

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