Memories on Memorial Day

Well I’m in great company when it comes to singing with Grandma. We sing pretty badly together. However that was not always the case, Grandma had a very nice alto singing voice that I remember and played the organ in the Ransom Church for years. Myself and the other misc.Grandkidss used to pile around her organ when we were young and she would play us a few tunes, and we would get a kick out of pressing the various percussion settings. My favorite was the foxtrot button.

After she retired from organ playing she would sit with us in the pews, and I would pick up on her tone when we sang hymns, because it was hard for me to hit those high notes and scales but she made it seem easy by singing along in harmony.

We moved the organ to Hillcrest with her, but they weren’t using it much and they wanted to get rid of it. I debated with myself about taking it but the thought of an organ in our house without a trained organ player made me cringe. I lived through Scotty’s elementary orchestra years (he played the bass, and actually he got really good and I miss those concerts now) but I just wasn’t up for a budding organist.

For Memorial Day Hillcrest had a special program with some songs, so I knew that she would be up for a couple of tunes. We said the Pledge of Allegiance to which she remembered very well. And it was coherent. Then we sang America the Beautiful and Battle Hymn of the Republic and that was about as far as we got before she got tired.

It's rare to hear her talk in complsentencesnces, so when she sings along with the songs it's a treat to hear her say the words and the melody at the same time. She remembers. At Christmas when Jack Carey (local country singer) came to sing with the group, she chimed right in when White Christmas came on. Gayle and I were in tears. We rarely know what enjoyment she gets out of things, but the one thing we know is that she enjoys music.

My mom told me that the doctor said since her last weigh-in she’s lost nine pounds… mostly because of her inability to chew her food properly. It’s really been hard to get her to eat at times, although I’ve had some success with getting her to drink her milk first to prep her up for more swallowing… but the chewing part doesn’t seem to go well, and she either gets tired of chewing and won’t swallow, or won’t want to chew altogether but will swallow her milk. This is beyond the getting-the-teeth-in factor that I’ve mentioned before.

They are pureeing her food now so meals should be easier to manage.

Before the Memorial Day program the nurses gave her one of her Health Shakes and she guzzled it right down. The nurse commented that she ate a good breakfast, so who knows half the time. At least she’s eating and I haven’t seen her turn down a chocolate shake yet. Or anything chocolate for that matter!

Simple Recipes from Grandma's Recipe Box

Rock Island has a new antique shop: DooDad's on the corner of 30th Street and 14th Avenue. Went there Saturday and found quite a few bargains: a marble base lamp, a California pottery dish and an old recipe file box with a bunch of old recipes in it.

The recipe box was the greatest find, and it prompted me to dig out my Grandma's recipe file box with her clippings and concoctions. I know that some of the recipes are hand-me-downs from my great-great grandmothers before. The ingredients are all so simple and basic. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by cooking a recipe I've stopped before I've started.

I'm going to try and build a Web site of Grandma's Recipe Box to see what else is out there. I know I've heard of OLEO, but where can I get it? Do people still use it? What ever happened to Pimentos? They were everywhere.

Cooking has been a big part and process of my life, from 4H to my first cookbook at the age of 6 or 7. I like my cooking magazines but there's something about digging in the recipe box that is adventurous and fulfilling. I'm sure Grandma agrees, although she can't tell me anymore, but there's nothing like the taste of her homemade apple bars that I know can't be found in any recipe book.

Mother's Day Brunch at Hillcrest

Hillcrest had a Mother/Daughter brunch festivity over the weekend, so I went out and joined Alaina, Gayle, Aunt Rosemary, Aunt Carol and my mom (AKA Aunt Barbara). Uncle Steve was around somewhere, but I only saw him for a few minutes. He enjoys buzzing around and talking to people.

The brunch was nice and Grandma almost ate a whole muffin. I could tell she liked the bright tablecloth, flower napkins and decorations by the way she kept fiddling with them. She really likes to touch things, in a way that someone reads Braille, she skims her hands over the top like she’s trying to understand it. I have no idea what her eyesight is like, but she wears her glasses still, and she can read large print words.

Mom said she fell/scooted out of her bed Monday, but there doesn’t seem to be any damage. She must of fell on her bum just right; no one could find any bruising otherwise. Lately the falls have been a regular occurrence, she’s not wearing her Velcro/strap/alarm thing anymore because she learned how to take that off. Believe it or not she’s got a lot of strength in those little arms and she can rip off or hoist herself whenever she wants to. Many times I’ve tried to pry her fingers off of her wheelchair so I can push her around and there are days when she’s got such a vise grip on the wheels that I can’t budge a pinky.

Aunt Rosemary set Grandma’s hair after breakfast. The style never lasts very long, but then again my hairstyle never does either.