Today is Mother’s birthday and this is one of my favorite photos of us. It was April 2017, the year Dad passed over later in November. We were on our way to Wichita Falls, about an hour north of Graham to get stain for the decks. Mom and I took so many road trips together and we always had such fun. We both enjoyed stopping at antique stores, browsing arts and crafts, and finding a good place to eat Mexican food. It always makes me smile when I see this picture, and I hope it makes you smile, too. Mom passed over in February of 2019, following a difficult Fall in 2018. I was in Texas many times to stay with her in the hospital, including over Christmas that year. She would have been 97 today.
I was fortunate to get to spend May and June in Graham in 2018. Mother had gone to live in assisted living in March that year, and it had worked out really well for her. I normally worked during the summers, but that year, I declined to teach so that I could go home. Besides seeing Mother and spending time with her, Sis and I were cleaning out the house, barn, and outbuildings to prepare to sell. It was a huge job, but it was also a wonderful time. Happy birthday to you, Mom, and thank you for being my mother.
Dorothy at The New Vintage Kitchen always inspires me with her beautiful and healthy foods, and I love the stories she weaves into her writing about food. One of the best things I have learned from her it giving food time for the flavors to meld. After the wonderful dinner of steaks and using my fresh herbs Thursday, I took the leftover herbs, tomatoes, feta, grilled squash, and my steak and bagged them with the leftover olive oil I had used to get the zucchini and squash ready for the grill. The next day, I mixed them up with some fresh spring greens, added a little more olive oil and splash of balsamic vinegar and tossed in a handful of dry roasted peanuts for lunch. I had to let Dorothy know how right she was about food being better after those flavors marry for a time. Thank you again, Dorothy, for your wonderful food education!
Last night I felt so productive after spending much of the day working on the Mound Bayou cemetery project that I made chicken enchiladas verdes for supper. I can name that tune in one word: YUM! Guess what is on the menu for lunch today? Leftovers!
For now, I need to go make a birthday cake in honor of Mom for after the Smashburgers Randy will do tonight. I will be using Sheryl’s 100 year old recipe for Variety Marble Cake–easy, pretty, and she says tasty, so what could go wrong?
All photographs are original images with all rights reserved unless otherwise credited. Kindly request permission prior to using.
Suzassippi's Lottabusha County Chronicles 
Happy birthday to your mom! She looks so happy in those photos. ♥️
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Thank you, Treacy. We did have a lot of fun together.
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You and your mom both look so happy in that photo. How wonderful you have many happy memories of the times you had together. I can tell just from looking at that photo that you were a joy in her life. Enjoy that cake and your memories.
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Thank you, Betty. We were both happy that day! And many others as well. I was more like her than I ever knew until much later!
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Oh, you and your mom. I love that you had each other for so long. And so good. I’ll be thinking about your story on into this evening. And sister, I already put the marble cake recipe on my Drive for tomorrow morning! We eat our big meal around 10:00 every morning after chores and this cake fits the ‘perfect dessert’ bill. Can’t wait!
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Thank you, Cathy. I was fortunate indeed to have both Dad and Mom for so long. He was the eldest among his siblings, yet survived all of them except his baby sister who is in her 80s now. Dad was 93. Mom was the eldest among her siblings, and survived them both and live to almost 92. I am grateful. I am headed to the kitchen now to get my cake in the oven!
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How amazing and wonderful that you enjoyed so many years and wonderful times with your Mom ♥ and Dad. Whenever we do family pictures we also do one “silly” one because Mom always insisted one family picture had to be spontaneous 🙂
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Thank you so much! I was blessed to have them so long and I am grateful. I think it is fun your mother wanted fun pics!
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I am sorry about your mom. She saw so many changes in her life, so many social upheavals, and such astonishing technology changes. We forget how much our elders have seen and experienced. I’m glad you could share so much time with her.
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Thank you, Andy. I know you joined me on so many journeys to and from Texas those years. I treasure those times I spent with them. I appreciated what I learned from her and Dad those last few years which helped me to understand those changes and upheavals you mention. And truly, every time I look at that photo of me and Mom heading off on our last road trip, I am thankful for that opportunity.
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Lovely post!
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Thank you, Anne. I cherish those last few years with them even when it was hard. I think that is what love teaches us–to carry on when it is hard. It was like returning the love they gave me during my “hard years” and only later would I appreciate what that entailed.
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Beautiful, beautiful!
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Thank you. 🙂
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Yes, the pictures of you and your mom made me smile. She looks like a lovely lady, inside and out. I think you honored her in a huge way by being with her and not teaching that summer. A great daughter.
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Thank you, Charla. I was blessed to have such a wonderful mother, and so glad I could spend that time with her. It was a spartan summer in that there was little left in the house but basic necessities, but it felt like a wonderful retreat as we moved into that “uncharted territory.”
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Your mom was blessed to have you, too.
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