When I was 11, I threw a glance into Dad's lunch box and made the unexpected discovery that my mother still showed her love towards my father. The evidence, a napkin resting on top of the sandwiches packed in wax paper, was certain "Love you!" she had written on the napkin. " Meat loaf for supper!" Mom penned all kinds of messages to Dad on those paper napkins, and he saved a whole pile of them. What embarrassed me as a kid has become a precious memory of my parents. It also started my own brand of lunch box notes. When my kids were young, I'd glue little drawings on their lunches. Lots of sketches  of our dog, Max, along with smiling flowers. When they were teenagers, I'd copy words of wisdom from great people, Einstein, for example, or Bruce Springsteen. Then, my kids grew up making their own handwritten notes. And my husband writes me love notes on recycled paper, because he's all about being green. Friends who know about my lunch box notes eagerly share stories of their own family traditions. So many focus on food. Maura's mom always drew hearts on the shells of hard-boiled eggs. Melinda wrote messages on her kids' bananas. We're into the third generation of lunch box notes in our home. Whenever my 3-year-old grandson, Clayton, spends the night, he knows his lunch is going to have a napkin note from Grandma in the morning. Last week, I drew a picture of me, waving widely and shouting his name. He took one look at it and screamed, " Where's Grandpa?" I added a man in a clean shirt. " You forgot his tie," he said. I quickly drew a line of stripes  down the front of the shirt. Clayton smiled. "Grandpa," he whispered, running his fingers across the napkin. "It's you!" What's the best title for the text?
Old generation's way of expressing love. Different brands of lunch box notes. Lunches packed with love. Some interesting family traditions.