I am sitting in our den looking out at the rainy morning. The rain has grounded my plans for later today so as I drink my cup of Door County Cherry Crème Coffee, pray, write and rethink my plans I will take a little more time to enjoy the quiet.
Tomorrow my wife Rene will take her weekly trip to visit her mother in a town about 60 minutes away from us. Mother is 91 years young and still lives in her own home. She is active, still serving others in her community. She drives, safely and can crochet a sweater that easily wins ribbons at the county fair competitions. Rene goes out to help her with the house chores and basically to visit. This has been a great bonding time for them and Rene has her mind put at ease when she checks in on her. Any way you look at it 91 years old is 91 years old.
Deuteronomy 5:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
My part on making the day better is to make a couple of meals to send out to Grandma. Now she is perfectly capable of cooking and she does so most of the time. I send the meals because Grandma is so busy that I like for her to be able to eat a couple meals without working at it. This way she can enjoy something to eat and rest up for her next adventure. It's my way of thanking her for all the family meals and celebrations she held at the house when she was younger.
Grandma really likes to eat soup and she will eat it year round. Potato soup is her favorite. One of her other favorite meals is meatloaf , mashed potatoes, and corn. So today it is meat loaf day. Rene and I have plenty of conversations about many things and most of our conversations are not very deep in thought. When I asked Rene what she thought I should make for Grandma's care package, she replied "meatloaf!" I said OK and thought that would be the end of it. But Rene went on to explain that she can still see all six kids and her two parents sitting at the kitchen table eating meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn. It actually is one of Rene's favorite meals also. It hit me while thinking about it that the meatloaf is a memory and is a comfort meal for Rene. Later today when she gets home from work there will be two pans of meatloaf in the oven. I plan to help Rene with that fond memory.
My dear friends, respect and love the elderly in your life. If at all possible help your immediate family to retain their fond memories. You have the ability to make it a meatloaf day for someone.
God bless,
Marty
We honor our grandma Katherine's memory by cooking the meals she prepared for us as kids when she entertained- elbow mac& tomato juice, beef butt roast eith gravy and russet potatoes, jello with fruit cocktail, apple coffee cake. Yum! She loved; she served; she was Jesus to our family and many others! What a powerful legacy!
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat way to do it!
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