Day Twenty-two

The whole time I was growing up my Mom had an Ernie cookie jar. You know Ernie from Sesame Street? Bert’s friend? We got the cookie jar when we were living in CA, quite possible from a swap meet. It was on top of the refrigerator at the townhouse we lived in before we moved to AZ. It sat on top of the refrigerator at our house on 27th street in Tucson, then the house on Howard Stravenue. It was on top of the fridge again in the house Mom and Jenni had over at Stone & Drachmann too. I think Ernie went to live with Sara VanSlyke while Mom went on the Great Peach March, but he came back when mom and Jenni moved into the house on N. First. He sat on the shelf over the stove at that house along with a Scotty dog cookie jar. When Mom moved to what Paul referred to as “the tiny house” Ernie and the Scotty dog were back on top of the fridge.

Did Ernie ever hold cookies? Not really. I remember when Jenni and I were in HS we washed him and put cookies in him once or twice. But when I was a kid, if there were cookies in the house they were hidden so Jenni and I were not helping ourselves to all of them.

When mom passed Jenni and I were faced with the daunting task of emptying out her “tiny house” and finding places for her belongings. The kitchen was one of the last rooms we did, and while I want to say that we lovingly sorted through Mom’s things and came to a mutual agreement about everything, that is not really the case. The last day before we were scheduled to leave Tucson was a day in crisis and everyone sort of crashed and burned independently and spectacularly. In the fiery aftermath Sue and Becky went to the tiny house and packed up the remaining items so that I would not have to do it. During that packing Ernie’s head fell and shattered on the floor.

When Sue told me I was disappointed. Becky said they packed up the body and not to worry too much, because she knew one day I would walk into Savers (a thrift store) and there would be an Ernie head for a dime. I thanked them for their help and asked that they tell Jenni since I was pretty sure she wasn’t speaking to me.
Well Jenni and I made up and several months later she called and asked where Ernie’s head was and what kind of joke was I playing to only have packed Ernie’s body in the box she was finally getting around to unpacking. So then I explained to her what had happened. She took the news of Ernie’s demise pretty well, but was not as sold on theory that I would find a new head at Saver’s. She was quick to point out that #1 we do not have Saver’s in OKC, and that B) I don’t shop at thrift stores.

Determined to prove her wrong,(about finding the head, not about the thrift stores)
I started searching on eBay for an Ernie cookie jar. Sure enough I found one and purchased it for $12 including the shipping and handling and insurance. It was sent from Pennsylvania and somehow it was damaged in the mail. When I found the box sitting on my front porch it looked as though an elephant had sat on one corner of it. I was afraid to open the box because what if it was ruined? Sure enough the cookie jar had been damaged. The body was in a myriad of pieces. The head however was intact. There was a note from the post office saying that my box was damaged and if the contents were damaged as well I should contact them. So the next morning I went to the post office with the box and the broken cookie jar body. I showed the postal worker the box, and the invoice for the cookie jar, and explained that the head was ok, just the body was destroyed.

“You can’t use a cookie jar with just the lid” he told me and gave me $12 to cover the entire cost.

So that year Jenni got an Ernie head for Christmas and the best part was that Sue & Becky were right.