Lilly Sway

Today I spent most of the day cleaning and dusting and I have quite a large collection of photos on display and it makes for a busy cleaning day, but I am not complaining. I am one of those people who frame’s most all of the pictures I take. .I try to put them all out at one time or another, it is my intention to live a happy a life as I possibly can, and one of the reasons I make the time to continue this hobby is to help realize that statement. I have photos in boxes but for the most part I feel one should have their memories out, to cherish the years right in front of them each and every day. I find that time goes by quickly and if I store everything in a box could I ever get the chance to take a moment and remember a great day or reflect on why something has changed. I have purposely surrounded my self for the most part with my life right before my eyes, my husband started the collection of framing a special photo on the wall here and there you know dad stuff and after a while he got bored, but I have grown to enjoy most everything about putting the photos on our shelves or the wall for display I can go down the hallway and find myself smiling at a funny costume my 18 year old wore when he was 3 and I can appreciate the heart ache my husband feels when he looks at a picture of our daughter when she was 5 and the reality that hits him to just look across the hall and see that she is now a beautiful thirteen year old on the way towards becoming a woman, I can see my best friends in their happiest of times, or I can feel my heart warm with love when I look at my most memorable times, like when my children were born (and how good I looked then). I had the opportunity to talk to a friend the other day, it had been a long while since we had time in our busy lives to spend catching up, but as I hung up I saw her picture up on my shelf and it was as if we had just seen each other, so her being in another part of our state and not where we could have a lunch date or see one another didn’t seem to matter as much just the visual connection was enough, the best part of having my memories surround me is that sometimes the visual is all I have left of a particular friend or family member that has passed away, because we will always have that instant, that perfect day, that special moment frozen in time, that special picture, you know the one you don’t really mind dusting at all.

Food for the Mind

Lilly’s Way

Today, I started to shop for cooking ingredients to accommodate the upcoming holidays. Since childhood, I have been in love with the kitchen and all of the familiar aromas. Even when I feel a little tired or stressed I can always cook up a storm in the kitchen. I owe this purely to the anticipation of how good it will taste when I have finished. This week, as I picked up a little of this and that, I needed a few fresh spices to add to a special recipe. I was giving it a practice run in the kitchen when my oldest son pointed out how it smelled just like grandmother’s kitchen. His response to the aroma was to ask if we were having company. I had cooked up a little roasted hen and some trial-run dressing and rolls; all made from scratch. As I tasted the meal, I was suddenly overcome with joy. I felt so happy that I began to look for old holiday music. During supper, I realized that my family was growing up fast. The children seemed so mature, although I noticed that they were giggling at the same old music that we had listened to every holiday season, for years. At least, that is what I thought that they were laughing at… upon further investigation I found out that they were really laughing at the old centerpiece on the table. I had gone all-out with my holiday trial-run; I had even decorated the dining table. When I had first set the centerpiece on the table, I did not have time to take in the fact that it was the one I had made for my mother when I was twelve. I had crafted it as a special home coming for my oldest brother. He had been on his honeymoon and was bringing his new wife to our home for the very first time. During his furlough in Italy he fell in love and married a wonderful woman within a matter of three months. I wanted the table to look especially beautiful that thanksgiving. My thoughts were very warm and comfortable as I grew lost in old memories. Finally it all made sense and I made the connection to my sudden burst of happiness: it was the food that I had prepared all day, they were the recipes that my mother had left to me in her cookbook. Within were her special ingredients, her special way, to entice you to come to the table for an unforgettably delicious meal. I was in heaven and I had managed to unknowingly transform another routine Saturday meal into a beautiful passageway to that oh so comfortable place just by making a little comfort food.