Mon Cherie, Chicken Soup - Somewhere on the Road...

I was raised in Lamar, Missouri which was extremely prejudiced against blacks at that time. I was taught to be this way. Most of the black people I have come in contact over the years since I left Lamar, Missouri have pulled the blinders of racial prejudice away from my eyes and permitted me to judge them as people instead of what my birth into ignorance had taught me to do.

The first lesson I learned in this area was taught to me by a stripper I worked with on Al Baker's circuit for many years. She was a tall nice looking black girl named Mon Cherie. This was her stage name. I never knew her real name.

It was the year of 1973. I had enrolled my little girl into a girl's Catholic boarding school in Covington, Kentucky - Villa Madonna Academy. I had to make a down payment of a little over five hundred dollars in May; so she could go to school the following September. I had it figured out oto the penny how I would save enough to do this. My budget left me about two dollars a week for food. I was talking to Mon Cherie about this.

Most of us girls carried around a little tin container that plugged into the wall and held such things as a cup of water or a can of soup - to heat up. I had one. I had it figured out how to survive. I drank a lot of hot water anyway. Also, I had a jar of honey and a jar of vinegar. I heated water and made a tea of this with my little electric pot. I had a jar of wheat germ that I ate as cereal; so with these items, I was certain I would not starve to death. It would be difficult; but I could do it. Also, I fasted a few days a week anyway to keep my body looking good.

I liked Mon Cherie already as a person; but what she did for me - I will always remember and appreciate forever. She was packing to go to the next town to dance. She had some instant chicken soup in her reservoir of food. She said, "Here!" as she handed me two packages of them. I said, "Oh! No! That's alright! I'll be O.K.". Needless to say, she made me take them. Later, when I drank the soup, I appreciated her generousity. And even though I am a vegetarian now, everytime I see chicken noodle soup, I think of her act of kindness. It is a good thought.

Her kindness to me helped me to survive and accomplish my financial goal for my daughter. But more than that it began my mental elevation of transition from the depths of ignorance.

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