Like Grandparents-Like Grandchild

Years ago, like 20 years ago my grandfather died.  My father and I went to his house a few months later to clean out some of his items.  My grandmother had died several years before my grandfather.  We were in the basement and I noticed a stash of canned goods.  I was young and not of the mind I am today.  I mentioned to my dad that they had a lot of food stored in the basement (when I mean a lot it was maybe 40-50 cans).  My dad said yes that they always kept a bit extra food just in case they couldn't get to the store or in case of a winter storm.  Made sense to me and nothing more was said.  My dad was the cook in our house and he always kept a stocked pantry too.

Fast forward many years and I am having a conversation with my mother about emergencies and disaster, in general terms this conversation was.  Nothing serious and nothing alerting.  She told me that my uncle had gone to my grandparents and told them that in case of a nuclear attack that they needed to have extra food and supplies ready for them to survive.  So he convinced them (she said) to buy all this extra food and it sat for years for the nuclear attack to never come.  She said it was such a waste of money and she was so glad that my dad and her weren't sucked in to spending a ton of money on needless food for an attack that would never happen.  Oh, I remember now, we were talking about bomb shelters back in the 50's and 60's.  This purchase of the stock of food was in the 70's apparently.  I remember when we were talking about it that it made sense to me to be prepared and I remember thinking that my mom was so reckless in her opinions and her idea that nothing will happen and she will be fine.

I know that my dad was a smart man, and I know that my dad enjoyed having a variety of items on hand at any given time.  He loved his stocked freezers and his stocked pantry.  I can only wonder if he was storing food for the "just in case" too.  Even if my mom thought it was foolish to stockpile food I wonder if he did anyway, secretly by just keeping our pantry full.

And now today, as I stock my pantry, purchase extra supplies for first aid kits, 72 hour bug out bags, and stock our trailer for the "just in case", I know I can't tell my mother about it.  I know that if I did she would think of me as being foolish, wasteful, and worrying about something that will never happen.

I keep this all a secret.  This blog. My pantry. My prepping.  It protects me and keeps me safe.