Meadowlark Hospice

Dawn's Notes

Mr. What Else and My-T-Fine Pudding Mix - November 2022
by Dawn Phelps, RN/LMSW

It’s funny the things that I think about now that I am older, and many of my thoughts lead back to my childhood.  After all, it is sometimes easier to recall something that happened in my childhood than what I ate for supper last night.  That’s kind of how memories work—our remote memories are sometimes clearer than our recent ones. Let me share one of my pleasant childhood memories of a man that my sisters and I named Mr. What Else.  We met him after we moved from the country into town for the first time when I was eleven.  We never knew his real name.   

Mr. What Else worked at a very small grocery store about a block from our house.  Since the store was nearby, my mother would sometimes let me walk to the store alone.  She would give me a nickel, and I would head toward the store where our purchase was usually the same. But first, a little more about Mr. What Else.  He was a short, aging, friendly man who wore a long white butcher apron.  He seemed to diligently try to please every customer who walked through the door of the store. I remember him looking very much like a clown, bald on the top of his head with a fringe of fuzzy carrot-red hair.  If a red nose and big shoes had been added to his attire, he could have easily passed for a clown!

My sisters and I liked him, and we looked forward to our little outings to the store for our usual purchase—one box of instant My-T-Fine pudding mix.  The flavor was determined by the flavor of the cake we planned to bake that day.  Chocolate pudding if we baked a white cake, and vanilla if we baked a chocolate cake. Those were the days before cake mixes, so our cakes were made from “scratch.”  We learned to bake cakes when we were about eight or nine, and we stirred everything up by hand.  I remember having to take breaks from beating the cake batter because my arm ached so badly. First, we creamed the sugar and shortening together, then added eggs.  Last, we carefully blended in the dry ingredients.  Making a cake was hard work for a kid, but the outcome was worth it for growing kids, when nickels were scarce, and cake and pudding were such treats! 

But back to Mr. What Else.  When my sisters or I walked to the store, while we waited for our turn, we found it interesting to watch and listen to Mr. What Else as he hustled from aisle to aisle, pulling items from the shelves.  After finding each item, he would ask the customer the same question, “What else?”—that’s how he got his name. I still remember one particular day when I went to the store for pudding mix.  When I arrived, Mr. What Else greeted me with “And you must want some My-T-Fine pudding mix!”  So that day, it was just a matter of letting him know whether I wanted chocolate or vanilla.

After my siblings or I got home from the store, we would mix the pudding mix with milk, using an old-fashioned egg beater.  After the pudding set up, we ate it with our warm, freshly baked cake.  I still remember how delicious it was!  After I was older, I tried to re-create the memory by baking a cake from our old recipe, but it was never as good as it was when I was a kid. My M-T-Fine pudding mix experiences taught me a couple of lessons.  First, I learned that sometimes the best memories can be bought with a nickel or no money at all.  A simple treat, as inexpensive as a nickel box of pudding mix, can create a lasting memory.  And I learned to be thankful for the small joys in life.

Many years later, I still use my lessons.  For example, when my husband and I taste a sweet, juicy watermelon or eat a tasty meal or hear a beautiful song, one of us will say, “That’s mighty fine pudding mix,” our way of acknowledging gratitude for the small joys in our lives. During the times when life is tough or we are sad, we may have to search a bit for the blessings in our lives.  And if we look a little harder, just like Mr. What Else, we might find something nice to do for someone else. 

During this Thanksgiving season, search a little, and you will probably find some little joys waiting to be discovered.  You might even find something as simple and tasty as a piece of warm cake with a dollop of pudding on top, your very own M-T-Fine pudding mix.  Look around and count your blessings.  Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

Call about the next "Living Life after Loss" Group at:
Meadowlark Hospice
709 Liberty, Clay Center, Kansas
(785) 632-2225
Dawn Phelps, RN/LMSW, Group Facilitator