Reminders

There have been several reminders of my mother these last few weeks.

I’ve been sitting still enough to watch my electronic picture frame that shows many pictures of Mama from the last five or so years. A person who had cared for Mom’s medical needs talked briefly with me about her. Last Sunday, I spoke with one of the cooks at West Village about Mama. Mercy! Mama would want to hurry back to the home so she could eat supper there instead of at my house. I don’t blame her for that. I would choose to eat there, too!

Neither of us were too much in the cooking department. Mom always made nourishing meals that today we would consider old-fashioned and rather plain. Other than coconut pie, her cooking specialities were few and far between. But I do remember when I was young, she always decorated our birthday cakes with beautiful designs and lots of frosting! Yum!

Her speciality when she was older was taco soup. As adults, my kids always giggled when they were asked to her house. They knew the menu by heart – taco soup and pineapple/coconut/pecan cake. But I have to admit, that cake was almost as good as her coconut pie.

I’ve been thinking about special things Mom taught me as I’ve worked recently on a stitchery. I remember sitting on the arm of a couch while she taught me the basics of embroidery. I still have my first piece somewhere in one of my souvenir boxes. As I spoke with one of the residents at the home last Friday, I told her about Mom teaching me to sew – and redoing it until I got it right. Once, I had to put in a zipper 5 times! I hated that dress ever after!

The featured image above was taken in memory of Mama. Ronald and I laugh at me every time I pull a ‘Nana’ routine.

Like any woman raised during her time period, she knew how to make meals go a long way. I don’t think she ever threw out a leftover in her life! When she still had a house and we went out to eat, she would most always have a ‘take-home’ box in hand. If she had leftovers from her meal after she moved into the home, I would pacify her by taking her leftovers to my house.

Because I am not eating as much as normal these days, I have been bringing home leftovers from restaurants to eat the next day. Sometimes I eat them, sometimes not.

My intentions are good. I don’t want to be wasteful. Or is it a good reason not to cook?

But like many leftovers, my good intentions put uneaten food from a meal in a container and place it in the fridge. And you know the routine.

Two weeks later, I clean the fridge and lo and behold! There is the chicken casserole I meant to reheat! Oops! There’s the salad mix I meant to finish before it spoiled.

You know the end of this – I have to get my sermon in before I close this blog.

Mama always made sure her faith was fresh and never left-over. Up to the end, I knew she would be at her desk every morning reading her Bible and working through 3 or 4 devotional books. We all knew she was praying daily for her family.