Needless to say, my mom's college career was cut a bit short by the entrance of Poopie into the world. I did the math and figured that I was born a full year and a half after the nuptials. Whew :) One time I asked my Daddy if my youngest brother ( who is 8 yrs younger than me ) was "planned". He died laughing and asked if I thought any of us were planned! Okay, I guess the timing on the firstborn could've been a little better, huh?

We lived the first year in Martin while he finished college, then it was back to the outskirts of the old hometown. Home was ( and still is, to them ) an old log cabin on the farm he has managed since 1958. It's gone through some cosmetic and structural changes, but the spirit of that old hunting lodge is still there with bare logs visible on inside walls. I cherish the memory of sleeping in the largely unfinished upstairs with a big attic fan lulling me and my brothers at night.

As long as I can remember, my mom worked fulltime. That was, though not uncommon, not the norm back then. The sixties was an era of change both politically and socially and women entering the workforce for life became the status quo. The first job I remember tagging along with her to was as a newspaper reporter for the primo rag here in town. She did society and general news and ended up doing a column on cooking called From the Back Burner. I credit her writing skills for giving ME the interest in writing. She was famous near and far for the recipes in her weekly column and we were the lucky recipients of all that good cookin'! Decades later, those recipes would be turned into a cookbook by the same name.

Since we were country folk, there was always a garden full of great stuff to eat....purple hulls, corn, okra, squash, green beans and tomatoes were regulars. A few years we even had eggplant, though that didn't go over too well with the kiddos . Even now, a pot of fresh purple hull peas is my favorite indulgence. Cooked with bacon, of course. What I didn't realize, was the amount of work that went into having all this good stuff year round. Mom would work all day, care for 3 kids, and be up 'til 2am canning the produce so we could enjoy it later.

She always made things special, especially holidays. One of the ways we celebrated the holidays was to make her special cut-out cookie recipe in the shape of the season and decorate them with colored icing. None of the 3 of us kids EVER went to a school Christmas party without enough meticulously decorated Santa faces for the whole class. I still make them when I'm in the "I need to feel my childhood" mood. She and I both made them with my daughter. It's a tradition to give and get iced hearts for Valentine's Day.

I think one of the reasons that she was able to keep her sanity through all this was her devotion to her friends, particularly her bridge club. This same group of women, give or take a few, have played bridge on a regular basis as long as I can remember. Tuesday night was bridge night.....no ifs ands or buts. When it was HER turn to host, I was thrilled to visit with all the ladies as they fussed over me and told me how I'd changed and grown. They play during the day now :) I tried to learn the game a few times, but it seemed like WAYYYYY too much thinkin' for me.

She packed us all up for church every Sunday and propped the sleeping boys on her shoulder while Daddy sang in the choir. She even converted her Southern Baptist hubby to Methodism in the name of worshipping as a family. Her heritage in the church of her childhood that she still attends is a great comfort to me. Same building. Different look. I see her as one of John Wesley's most precious circuit riders.