TPiH 55 - Mom and the Happy Apple

That Podcast In Hutch

In this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I am interviewing my Mom.

Every Christmas, my Mom brings up the story of the Fisher Price Happy Apple - my one and only Christmas present when I was just 11 months old. It's part of the lore of our family - that we were so incredibly poor the first year of my life, we couldn't afford a proper Christmas Tree or a proper Christmas at all. But my parents managed to scrape together enough cash to buy this one simple toy. By my Mom's account, I loved it and played with it constantly.

But over the years, this Happy Apple has become a sort of symbol, and a reminder. And my Mom is very clear that of all the possessions she has (which isn't a whole lot) this toy is the most cherished. It's the one I'm duty-bound to keep after her death. And it's the one I'm supposed to think about as a way to remember our family's past.

So I asked my Mom to talk about that period of time, and why this simple toy has meant so much to her over the years. She didn't stop there, and decided to tell a few other stories, too. Mostly about me.