Pimiento Cheese and Pumpkin Pie (or not)

It's really about the memories.

Probably our most memorable Thanksgiving is the year that my children's mammaw, Margaret Gentry Parker was about to "go to glory" (as their dad refers to it) and my parents and I (along with my brother and his little boy) took Becca, Renee and Tray to Winston Salem to be with their dad and to say good bye.

We were going to be  en route at lunch time (our family's traditional Thanksgiving feast time) so my mother had prepared traditional meal - ala picnic fare for us to enjoy.  She even had a table cloth and candles and we enjoyed a small turkey breast in a state park somewhere in Georgia.

It is a poignant memory for us all.  We did arrive at the hospital before she passed later that night and then we were able to visit with their papaw and their dad before we headed back to Jacksonville.

They also remember one year when most of our extended family was away so the four of us went to the Hilltop in Orange Park - different but fun.

Actually although traditions are a strong part of my family unit, food has never been that important.

I don't think any of my children can tell you what food I would make for them as their favorite. .

They would tell you they remember that we went to every one of any of their ball games (from T-ball when Tray was 5 to the regionals when Becca was playing high school softball) to performances where Renee was  giving a speech, to the library, to First Baptist choir presentations that Renee and Tray were in to one of the projects that I could always involve them in.  One year, Becca was playing softball at Englewood, Renee was the statistician for the Landon Middle School baseball team and Tray was playing Little League ball.  We literally went from one diamond to another that Spring.

Because of that - they would tell you we had a lot of McDonalds, frozen pizza and that sometime we would go to Shoney's for dessert.  Four cups of coffee, one piece of hot fudge cake and four forks.

It's the memories that count.

And this year we made some more memories.

I planned and prepared for days ahead.  With my mother's upcoming move,  I knew I should look for as many time saving opportunities as possible so I let Publix cook the turkey and I made the casseroles - sweet potato and broccoli, cooked the green beans, made the dressing (bought the gravy) and I did stuff the celery.

I remember now that when I made a pimiento cheese sandwich just after I returned from the grocery store that it tasted a little different.

Renee was anxious to enjoy a some celery.  And I was quick to hear ..."Mom, this doesn't taste right - it has a real kick". 

Of course I had purchased some off brand pimiento cheese rather than Publix brand that I have used for years.

Tray stopped for a quick visit - and to get some stuffed celery and we were having a good laugh over mom's purchase when I said

"I did some things different this year - I bought a pre-cooked turkey and a ready-made pumpkin pie".

Renee said "Mom - you bought a sweet potato pie".

Hum-no wonder it was a lighter color..

And so we are going to call this Thanksgiving the year of the pimiento cheese and sweet potato pie.

At least we made a memory!

Butter Pecan

They were on a fact finding trip, looking for a company that would manufacture a machine that was going to revolutionize the contact lens manufacturing business.  It was going to do it all - from the lens to the packaging process.  The team consisted of some mechanical engineers (Rich Suhey was one) and some research and development engineers (Mary Dolan was one).

They visited a company in Bradenton, Florida and stayed over night at a Holiday Inn near St. Armand's Circle on the Gulf of Mexico. 

And so it was that after dinner, the team went for ice cream.

Rich (who was about 15 years older than Mary) ordered butter pecan.

Mary told him that butter pecan was for "old people".

She remembered that when she worked in an ice cream shop as a teenager that it was always the "old people" who wanted butter pecan.

As it happened, Mary and I became good friends and I married Rich Suhey.

And then he died.

15 years ago yesterday. 

And Mary went to the grocery store and bought some butter pecan ice cream.

November 17 is not just a day that I remember as the day Rich died.  Because it is also the day that my second daughter was born.  So it's a day of mixed blessings for me.

But isn't that really what life is all about?

The smooth, rich taste of butter pecan ice cream -- has a lot of calories.

It's good and it's bad.

My life was forever changed - first when I married Rich Suhey and then when after just 8 months, I became his widow.  In the 15 years since, I have been able to complete my college degree, purchase a home, and work part time while I cared for my parents - something about J and J stock and his pension. 

I'm not one to focus on finances, much too black and white for me.  However, I am one to focus on the way God supplies our need.  And I have no doubt but that my needs are supplied - and partly because of the man who liked butter pecan ice cream.