Tuesday, April 21, 2009

April 21, 2009

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell
We have passed the middle of April- I am one of those who puts off getting my taxes done until the last minute- I do not know what we would do without Johnita Stalculp and Joe Vance and their crews. Tax time is a lot like Christmas not that we receive an unexpected, undeserved gift- and we do not decorate the house or the neighborhood in lights- and we do not get family together to have a large meal and we do not get the day off from work. So I guess tax time is nothing like Christmas except that I procrastinate both of them.
The best thing about April 15th is it is my mother’s birthday. My mom has been and still is a wonderful mom. She set the bar really high when it comes to the wife and motherhood department. Mom rarely was ill while I was growing up. I do not think that she ever got the flu. Well, maybe not never - but she was more resistant to viruses than the rest of us. Dad on the other hand got the flu bug and he usually got it worst than the rest of us. Mom was a good nurse, she made us jello molds and brought our aspirin, and a Pepsi on a little tray. She would make us soup or whatever we wanted and never seemed to mind all of the whining and moaning. And we are a family of moaners. We makes all kinds of sounds. I think that we think as long as we are noisy we are still among the living.
I can remember when Dad and I would come in from whatever we were doing at the yard gate we could smell what we were about to eat. I do not mean this is a bad way- it was wonderful to smell what mom had decided to make for our next meal. I loved it when she would fry chicken and have gravy- or roast beef. Mom always had a meat, veggie, fruit and dessert at most meals. She made sure that there was something there that we liked. Meal time was never a stressful time and the folks never made us eat anything that we did not like. Dad would encourage us to eat everything and would tell us how good it was and what we were missing. Mealtime was when we would tell about our day and what we were planning to do, we would talk about anything and everything. Mom still makes the best baked chicken gravy that I have ever had- I have watched her make it and I do not know what she does differently- but it sure is good.
Mom had different dishes for different types of food. I would get so excited when I saw that she had set the table with the blue and white dishes. That meant that we were going to have spaghetti. We it not have Italian often so it was a real treat. Sometimes she would make floating islands (custard) for Vickie and Virgil when they came home from school. I thought it looked so good- but I do not like custard. She always tried to make something for us or have something for us to eat when we got home from school. If she was not at home- which was not often, she would leave us a note. In the note she would tells us where she had gone when she would be back and then at the end of her note she would always put be good and do not put any beans up your nose. Since the only bean I liked was green beans I could not understand why she thought I would open a can of green beans and stick them up my nose. It was not until I left home that I realized that she meant a dry bean, but still --- why?
Mom turned 89 this year and she is perking right along and doing better than I am most days. So Happy Birthday, Mom! You always made me feel safe and happy.

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