April 7: Today is my mom’s birthday. She’d be 57. To celebrate her birthday, I had Dad, Terry, Tom, Michael, and Lisa over for dinner last night. We ate Dutch babies (puffy pancakes with apples), sausage, and a rolled spinach omelet. Then for dessert I made a chocolate sheet cake. It used 3 3/4 sticks of butter. It was….delicious. Mom would have approved:)
This afternoon I read Andrew one of Mom’s favorite stories, Heckedy Peg by Dawn and Audrey Wood. It was one of those times that as I was reading, I was crying so much I couldn’t really get the words out. The story is about a mother who saves her seven children from a witch (Heckedy Peg) who had turned them into food. Here’s my favorite part:
The witch pointed to the table.
“Here are your children,” she said. “If you can’t guess them right the first time, I’ll eat them for my supper.”
Keeping her feet tucked beneath her, the mother crawled to the table. How would she ever guess which food was which child?“In despair, the mother looked in her basket. Here are the things my children wanted, she thought, and now they will never have them.”
“Hurry!” said the witch, “I’m hungry.”
The mother looked at the food on the table.
“Speak up!” said the witch. “My supper grows cold!Suddenly, the mother new what to do. Taking the things from her basket, she said, “I know my children by what they want.”
“Bread wants butter. That’s Monday.
“Pie wants knife. That’s Tuesday.
“Milk wants pitcher. That’s Wednesday.
“Porridge wants honey. That’s Thursday.
“fish wants salt. That’s Friday.
“Cheese wants crackers. That’s Saturday.
“And roast rib wants egg pudding. That’s Sunday.”Quick as a wink, the children turned back into themselves. They hugged and kissed their mother, then hugged and kissed each other.
Mom loved that the mother in the story saved her children because she knew them. Boy did Mom know each of us kids. It’s an amazing thing to be known so well by another person. That’s one of the things I miss so much about having her gone. I’d like to be able to call her to confirm what I think:)
Mom’s birthday today is a sunny day. We picked up some flowers at the grocery store yesterday for her. Happy birthday, Mom.