Recipe 4 Living

Imogene on her 90th

Spring is in the air, thank God, & Imogene's juices are flowing! She may be very sight & hearing impaired, but that doesn't stop her from getting on her head scarf, picking up her cane to take walks in the yard so she can spy on our neighbors, Peggy, & any others that might be visible. Peggy is so special to us; she shares our grandsons, Tanner & Chase Guiling, & has been such a good neighbor for many years. She is a nurturing person, often brings over soup, cookies, & shares her newspaper with us.

I'm always fearful that she is going to fall while out punching around for moles, voles, going to the mailbox, whatever, but as my brother says, you can't stalk her & she deserves to do whatever she feels she can & she's a pretty good judge of that situation. I'm constantly hearing pans, dishes, falling & I've learned to just let it be unless she calls out, Cumi! I usually rewash the dishes, but always leave some for her to do. I wait to redo them until she retires for the night around 7 p.m. She is a lady of much pride.

She won't ask anyone to repeat things (as a rule) except me. So, I get asked things repeatedly, some of them are so funny because she can no longer hear complete words. For instance, trying to explain paperless banking, not having to pay taxes or insurance due to a home improvement loan,(they are paid as a part of the loan payment) getting those medicare explanation sheets when she thinks the amounts listed are amounts she owes. Don't growl about Obama, mom, remember, President Johnson was the one who gave us medicare & what would the two of us do without it?  I was trying to explain to her this past Sat. morning that I was going to go out to pick up some trash on a roadway & her reply was, they ought to empty that jail & get these roadsides cleaned up! That would stop some of this rabble rousing & dope smoking. Also, of course, she feels they should be made go to church every Sunday they are inmates. Her theory is that would save us money; they would change their lives, get jobs, live their lives as God & their mothers intended.

One of the biggest four letter words in mom's life has always been work, so these past few years of not being able to do much has been difficult for her. She can't do those spring cleaning chores that she usually attacked with such vengeance. We took off her electric blanket the other day & flipped her mattress. That satisfied her for that day. I'm hoping & have strongly hinted to our children that for mother's day they paint our house. She used to do that herself, & she would "spot paint" it. I would drive up, take note of that & it was obvious to me that she didn't notice that when you don't paint the whole section, it shows!  She never, ever disposes of anything "of worth" that might could be used later. One time she painted the utility room as far as she could reach behind the washer/dryer a hideous shade of green. It remained that color until just a couple of years ago when we did the "house flip" job from which she has never quite recovered because they painted the kitchen paneling white!

One thing we don't miss a great deal is mom's cooking. She's never been a great cook - never took the time to follow a recipe or spend the time or money on ingredients. To this day, she mostly eats soups, beans, corn bread, apples. She always took her lunch to work while dad always went somewhere outside to eat (I am his girl)! Presentation was not a big issue with mom, cook it, eat it, wash the dishes. She eats healthier than I do, however, & is always chastising me on this matter. She saw the price of a corn dog the other day on a Sonic ad & almost had a meltdown because Chase had left about half of an uneaten one here at the house.

As I watch Imogene struggle in this time of her life that I am journeying toward, I ponder & muse about her recipe 4 living & thank God for lessons learned each & every day past, present, future. She has shared her undying faith with me, the foundation of my faith, a faith that I have tried to pass on to my beloved quartet. I love recipes; I enjoy reading, trying & living them. Thanks, Imogene, for a recipe 4 living!   Cumi