I will never forget the first time we met our next-door neighbor Marjorie Drumm. Hilary and I were standing outside our home when up walked a platinum blonde woman wearing a full-length black mink coat. She was a friendly and attractive woman in her late sixties. She had the clearest blue eyes I had ever seen.
Marjorie Drumm
“Well hello there!” she said. “ I am so excited to meet you two. It sure is going to be great having some young people in the neighborhood!”
We exchanged introductions and small talk. The year was 1986 and Marjorie had lived in her home since 1963. Before we parted, she promised us that she was going to put together “a little coffee” so we could get a chance to meet the other neighbors.
True to her word, a few weeks later, Marjorie hosted a neighborhood gathering for us at her home. When Hilary and I arrived, we were introduced to the other neighbors, most of who were at least 70 years old or older. Hilary and I were just 25 at the time.
One neighbor we will never forget was Mrs. Vaden. She lived just across the street from our house.
Marjorie introduced us to Mrs. Vaden and then went off to attend the others guests. Mrs. Vaden was a tiny slip of a woman who was so classically attractive we were certain she must have once been a silent movie star. Our conversation with her went something like this:
Mrs. Vaden: “So, are you two the new people?”
Hilary and I looked around the room at all other guests. They were all senior citizens who had each lived on the block for at least 40 or more years.
Us: “Umm, Yes, yes we are. Isn’t it nice of Marjorie to host this party for us?”
Mrs. Vaden: “ I’ll say it is. You know, I don’t think I have seen Marjorie since she had her rectum done over.”
We were speechless. How do you follow up a comment like that?
Mrs. Vaden then turned to fill her coffee cup from the coffee urn and walked away totally unaware that she had forgotten to turn the spigot off. The hot coffee ran onto the floor.
Hilary and I quickly turned it off. As we were cleaning up the coffee from the floor, Marjorie came over to see what was going on.
I tried to minimize the situation by making polite conversation.
“Marjorie. I will never forget the first time I met you,” I said I wiped the coffee from the floor. “You were wearing your black full length coat and looked so pretty.”
“I remember that day!” she said. “ I just gotten my coat back from being cleaned. It had been covered in jelly and I was so thrilled that they got it all out.”
That seemed odd that her coat was covered in jelly so I just had to ask, “Jelly? Your coat was covered in jelly?”
“Why yes,” she remarked. “You see I was in a wreck in October and my car rolled off the road and flipped over and over. I had a jar of jelly with me in the car at the time and wouldn’t you know it? It busted when I crashed and the jelly went everywhere. It was raspberry jelly and the paramedics were sure I was covered in blood! Can you imagine?”
Then it hit me. Suddenly everything made sense.
Marjorie didn’t have her rectum done over as I thought Mrs. Vaden had said. Marjorie had a wreck in October!
Ha!!
Whether covered with jelly or not, Marjorie Drumm was one of the sweetest and nicest people I ever met. Even after a series of strokes made it almost impossible for her to speak, she still remembered her manners. Her stable of phrases consisted of just three things “Thank you”; I love it”; and “I love you”.
We were close friends until the day she died.
While Marjorie’s mother was a legendary cook, Marjorie was not. She did however make an egg custard that she would take to anyone who was sick. Some people send flowers or cards, but if Marjorie knew you were ill, she would show up at your door with her egg custard.
June 6, 2011 would have been Marjorie’s 93rd birthday.
In her memory I offer you:
Mark Bittman’s Old-fashioned Baked Custard
Ingredients:
2 Cups of Heavy Cream
½ Teaspoon ground Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon freshly ground Nutmeg
2 Eggs plus 2 yolks
Pinch of Salt
½ Cup of Sugar (you can add more if you want a sweet custard)
Directions:
Add the Cream, Cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of the Nutmeg into a cold saucepan and then heat to medium. Cook just until it steams.
Use a whisk to beat the eggs and two extra yolks with the Salt and Sugar until it becomes pale yellow and fairly thick.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water on the stove to boil.
Add the cream gradually to the egg mixture stirring constantly. If you add them too fast, it will cook the eggs. You will then have scrabbled eggs and need to start over. There is no recovery from scrabbled eggs.
Pour the finished mixture into six 4- to 6-ounce custard cups and top with remaining ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg.
Place the cups in a baking pan and put into the oven. Before closing the oven door, fill the baking pan with the boiling water from the kettle until the water comes to within 1 inch of the tops of the custard cups.
Bake for about 30 minutes until the custard is not quite set (it should wobble just a little in the middle).
Allow the custard to finish setting as it cools. This custard is great served warm, at room temperature or even cold. It is easy to digest.
Next time you want a treat for yourself or want to cheer a sick friend, consider making this egg custard just like Marjorie used to make. It is sure to put a smile on everyone’s face.
Hi. i came upon Marjorie's picture on google and i was wondering who had posted a picture of her. i have known Marjorie as a grandmother since she has been in my life since i was a baby. Thank you for posting this up.
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