When I was a kid my father and I would always stop by this gas station and get a frosty ice cream on the way home from church. Mom never went to church with us but that is another story. To be honest, I think the only reason I went to church with my dad was for that ice cream afterwards. It was always hot and uncomfortable in the church. Always. The church was small and crowded and it had 1 window air conditioning unit. In the summer it was hot and uncomfortable. Dad never wanted to sit near the air conditioner because you couldn’t hear well if you sat next to the air conditioner. I didn’t see that as much of a problem but apparently my father did. We always sat in the first or second row. You could hear just fine there. However, you didn’t get any cool air in those pews. In the winter months the church was also hot because the church’s furnace worked wonderfully. In fact, it worked too well. I don’t know if it didn’t have a thermostat or what but it was always well over 80 degrees in the church. The furnace would be blasting away while we sweated and suffered. At least I had a nice cool ice cream to look forward to. Winter or summer, I knew I would get my ice cream for the drive home. That made it all worthwhile. Last month I went back home. Dad asked if I wanted to go to church with him. I didn’t but I went anyway. That old church now has central air conditioning! I didn’t mind it so much. Still, I bought us ice cream on the way home. After all, you can’t break traditions.
