• I have a dream…

    January 21, 2013 / 12 Comments

    I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.  I’ve lived in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, but Memphis will always be home.  My roots are there.

    My husband (of thirty-nine years) and I were living in Memphis on April 4, 1968…the day Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.  We were a young couple expecting our first child living in a small apartment on Jackson Avenue.  Little did we know that morning that evil lurked in the heart of a man in downtown Memphis.  Like many sheltered young people, we had not seen, firsthand, such raw hatred and ugliness.

    Along with the rest of the nation, we were in shock when we heard the news.  We were appalled and sickened.  There would be other times in years to come in this land that hatred and prejudice would show their ugly heads and lives would be ruthlessly taken, but that was later and this was here and now.  I close my eyes and try to remember that week.  Mostly, I remember the upheaval, the sadness…the tragedy of it all.  I remember it being a time of FEAR and discord for everyone – regardless of race.

    On a flight from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest a few years ago, I had an enlightening experience.  I was on a small aircraft with one flight attendant and two distinct sections of the plane:  first class and coach.  I was in coach.  She made the announcement that if we (coach) NEEDED anything to let her know, otherwise there would not be a beverage service (for us) on that flight.  I was sitting on the second row of coach and had a “front row seat” for the show.  She totally catered to first class…warm towels, beverages, nice snacks, etc.  The lights were out in coach.  The gentleman sitting across the aisle from me remarked that he had never seen this before.  Neither had I and it made me mad.  It hurt my feelings.  The Holy Spirit used this for a teaching moment.  He reminded me of all those people who had unjustly spent years at “the back of the bus” or subjected to even worse treatment.  He said this is how it felt.  It hit home.

    Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day here in the United States as it is celebrated near the date of his birth (January 15).  I’ve listened to several of his speeches and I am always moved.  My favorite is “I Have A Dream”.  I have to ask myself what I would have done if I’d been born in different circumstances.

    I don’t have the answers for how to eradicate prejudice.  Prejudice is everywhere and it isn’t always about race.  I still have my moments, as everyone does, but I fight it.  Personally, I think our Heavenly Father sees us through a very special lens…the blood of His Son.  If we are believers, then we’re all the same color – whatever that is.  I think it will be interesting to see when we get to Heaven…

     

    This post was originally published in My Southern Heart.

  • A little Déjà vu…

    January 7, 2013 / 4 Comments

    I was thirty-four years old when my youngest child was born.  His older brother and sister were twelve and ten.  Needless to say, he never wanted for entertainment.  It’s a wonder he learned to walk before he was one year old, since someone was always carrying him, but he did.  When he started talking, it was in paragraphs with an extensive vocabulary.  His outgoing and sweet personality was evident early on.  He still has it.

    He grew up, graduated from college and married his beautiful college sweetheart.  Now, they have an amazing baby girl.  She has the sweetest disposition to go along with her beautiful blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair.  Her mom says she’s just like her dad…and she is!

    Above and below:  love their similar expressions!

      

     

    Below:  walking with her Dad, wearing her Urlacher jersey with her tutu and Mary Janes!

  • Home for Christmas…

    December 22, 2012 / 5 Comments

    A friend from high school posted the youtube video clip below on Facebook.  It reminded me of a post that I had written about coming home from college for Christmas in that very same 1963 snowstorm!   Thought I’d share the post here and give you a first hand look at what I was describing in the video below…

    Home for Christmas

    Originally published in My Southern Heart…the Stories on November 20, 2008.

    The days on the calendar flew quickly by. Thanksgiving had come and gone, and I was looking forward to a nice long break at Christmas. I was tired and “run down”, to use one of Mama’s expressions, after a bout with strep throat and a high fever. I had even managed to spend a few days and nights as a patient at the infirmary where I worked. The Christmas break would give me a chance to rest and catch up on all the school work I’d fallen behind on…not to mention preparing for the finals the week after my return to school. Not the best way to spend Christmas vacation, but I was thankful for the time.

    It snowed the day before we were to leave for Christmas break. A deep blanket of white covered the campus. Icicles hung from the chapel and other buildings and weighed heavily on the tree branches. Everything glistened in the bright sunlight. It was a winter wonderland in the deep South. No one had come prepared with boots but we still tromped in the snow, throwing snowballs at one another and basically acting thirteen again. It added to the excitement of going home.

    I was riding home with Sandra, one of my friends from Memphis, who was also a freshman there. Her boyfriend Mike had come down to drive us back to Memphis. It seems there was someone else with us on the trip…but I can’t quite remember who it was. I gently remind myself that it has been forty-five years.

    It continued to snow all that day, and the roads had turned into a solid sheet of ice. Driving was reported to be treacherous at best. Under normal circumstances, the trip took four hours. We left school about eleven o’clock in the morning right after our last class. It didn’t take long, or very many miles, to know we were not looking forward to this trip. Mike was a good driver but totally inexperienced driving in snow; and now the snow had been packed under a sheet of ice.

    I remember vividly that, at first, there was talk and laughter among us on the trip…and then silence as we realized how dangerous it was. We must have only been traveling about 20 miles per hour, but more than once, we slipped and slid totally across the road and into what would have been oncoming traffic…had anyone else been there. We passed dozens of vehicles abandoned on the side of the road or, even worse, wrecked. There were very few stores open and we needed to stop for gas. We also needed to get some food and something warm to drink. Unfortunately, this was before cell phones so we had no way to call our parents or anyone if, indeed, we were to need help.

    We finally found a store open and bought some sandwiches and hot chocolate. We also filled the tank with gas. I remember calling my dad collect at that point. He said to find some where to buy chains for the car and that he would pay for them along with the gas. Luckily, we did find a store open and managed to get chains to fit. A little while longer and we were back on the road. The chains did help some, but it was still rough going. Twelve hours after leaving school, we pulled up to my front door. We were all exhausted but glad to be home.

    Since that long ago journey, I’ve lived in Illinois and Iowa where it snows a lot. I’ve driven in snowstorms and blizzards with white-out conditions. I’ve driven on sheets of ice.  Yet each time I do, I’m transported back in time to a car full of college kids trying their best to get home for Christmas…

     

  • Snowfall…

    December 20, 2012 / 18 Comments

    Snow fell last night.  I awoke to a beautiful blanket of  white…over a foot deep.  Snow was banked high against the doors of the garages and the tarmac looked icy.  Only one garage had been shoveled out – that of a young man about the age of my younger son.  (Most of the people living here are retired.)  I wondered what this young man does for a living that required his being out in this.

    Of course, I remember the days of snow storms and severe thunderstorms of years past before I became a “retired” Registered Nurse.  It didn’t matter what the weather was…I had to be there.  I’ll never forget coming out of the hospital one January night after midnight.  It was -18 degrees and snowing like crazy.  A few of the nurses had automatic starters and stood at the window on our floor, pointed it in the direction of the parking lot and started their automobile.  They came out to a nice warm vehicle.  I didn’t have one!  I just prayed my automobile would start…thankfully, it did.  I’m glad that my little 154,000 mile Camry is now parked in “her” garage.  Maybe not warm – but dry.

    Snow always brings back memories.  Sledding with the kids, building forts and snowmen, snow “cream” with vanilla and sugar (we didn’t know to worry back then and were always careful where we got the snow for it!).  If I could get to my daughter’s house right now, I could be playing in the snow with my grandchildren as I did during a visit a couple of years ago.  I’m sure there will be plenty of snow here in the Midwest and time for that over the next few months!

    The featured photo above was taken on March 22, 1968.  Sixteen inches of snow had fallen in a rare snow storm in Memphis, Tennessee!  I wrote it about it in My Southern Heart…the Stories.  I wrote My Southern Heart…the Stories for my children and last Christmas published it in book form for them and the rest of my family. 

  • Over the river and through the woods…

    November 26, 2012 / 6 Comments

    Over the river and through the woods, to Aunt Penny’s house we go…

    Actually, it was eleven hours by interstate and the prairie farm backroads of Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas…but the end result was definitely worth it!  It had been two long years since we’d all been together in one place…my children, my grandchildren and myself. Not since the summer of 2010 when we all met in Chicago.  At that time, my oldest and his family were returning home from almost 7 years on the medical mission field in Peru.

    Thanksgiving 2012…and all my precious grandchildren

    We all drove from three different directions to meet in Memphis…where I had grown up…where my children were born and, sadly, where their father is buried.  My children’s paternal Aunt Penny and Uncle Mike graciously hosted our family in Memphis…along with their three sons, wives and four grandchildren.  Thank you, Aunt Penny and Uncle Mike!  We love you!  My oldest and his wife are host parents to a fourteen year old South Korean foreign exchange student this school year so this was her first Thanksgiving. Altogether, there were 27 of us there for the Thanksgiving feast!  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and I found myself wishing more than once that their Dad could have been their with us…no doubt he was in spirit.

    On Friday night, my niece Sharon and her husband joined us for a fun Corky’s Barbecue dinner.  Delicious food and fun fellowship!  Sharon and Tommy’s son and his wife and their two children stopped by to see us.  They were headed to the Christmas tree lighting at their church so they couldn’t stay for Corky’s.  It was so good to see them!

    I loved watching all my grandchildren playing together and sometimes pairing off by age and interests.  It thrilled me to see the love (and talent for) art in all my grandchildren as well as the love of music.  Four grandchildren are superb on the piano and one plays the violin beautifully.  (I know I sound just like a grandmother – what can I say?!  It’s true all the same.)  The love of books and reading was evident as well.

    I was in grandmother heaven until it came time to say goodbye to each one…then I was a crybaby.  Now, it will mean flights to see my sons and their families…and waiting until we are all together again.  Thankfully, for my daughter and four of my grandchildren, I can just get in the car and drive 14 minutes.  😉

    To see more of the Thanksgiving crazy fun, enjoy the slideshow below!  Just click the arrows to forward or reverse pics.

     

     

    P.S. For those of you who asked for them, the cookie recipes are now at the bottom of the previous post! 😉

    Note:  The Thanksgiving song above is here.

  • Baking and packing…

    November 20, 2012 / 11 Comments

    Tomorrow I will be up at the crack of dawn and on my way South with my daughter and her family.  Today, I have a “million” things to do.  I must finish baking the goodies that I am taking for Thanksgiving…in addition to running a few errands and packing.  I baked one and a half dozen banana bread muffins that probably won’t make it to Memphis…with seven of us in a van for eleven hours!  I baked three dozen of my son-in-law’s favorite peppermint cookies.  He’s driving most of the way so I’m sure he will enjoy snacking on a few of those on the way to Memphis!

    Peppermint Cookies

    I also baked a double batch of my favorite molasses cookies!  Those I will have boxed up for the trip and for the Thanksgiving reunion.  I made a large batch of trail mix (m & m’s, peanuts and raisins) and divided them into little “snack bags” for the trip.  Easy to reach for that way.  If they make it to Memphis, they will stay in the van since Penny’s grandchildren are allergic to nuts.

    As I finish this post, there is another favorite in the oven:  Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  I love the smell of almond and vanilla filling the apartment right now!

    Wishing each of you safe travels and a joyful Thanksgiving with your families and friends…

    Trail Mix Baggies

    Molasses Cookies

    Cookie Recipes…

    Dianne’s Favorite Molasses Cookies

    2 & 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon ginger

    1 teaspoon cinnamon

    2 level teaspoons baking soda (don’t heap these)

    2 tablespoons hot water

    1/2 cup Crisco soft shortening (make sure it’s fresh!)

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1/2 cup molasses (I use Grandma’s Molasses – unsulphured)

    1 egg

    6 tablespoons cold water

    1/2 cup seedless raisins (or more if you’re a raisin lover)

    Start heating oven to 400 degrees. Follow directions closely for the best cookie! SIFT together the flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Dissolve soda in hot water. Mix the Crisco shortening, sugar, molasses and egg until creamy. Mix in flour mixture alternately with the cold water; then mix in the dissolved soda and all but a few raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons – 2? apart – onto greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with remaining raisins. Bake 12 minutes or until done. Makes about 2 dozen.

     

    Favorite Peppermint Cookies

    2/3 cup Butter flavored Crisco

    1/4 cup granulated sugar

    1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

    1 egg

    1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

    1/2 teaspoon baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes

    Cream Crisco and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed.  Beat in egg.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Blend well into creamed mixture and stir in crushed peppermint.  Shape into small balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 – 12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets.  Makes about 36 cookies, so I usually double it…they’re so good.  Don’t wait too long to get the cookies off the pan or they will harden and it won’t be easy!