There were gifts and cards for all of us girls
We had an extraordinarily wonderful Mother's Day.
Truly perfect in every way. Beautiful weather and lots of togetherness.
Also we ate a lot.
Much to all of our regret, we did not get to see Brittany and Andrew for the day.
They are expecting a son in late August. Chad and Erica are expecting their second child in early October. Tomorrow they will find out the baby's gender.
Chad gave Erica beautiful roses from himself and Rhett
So we are at a heightened state of excitement in our family this year, when it comes to mothering and all mother issues.
We began our celebrations on Saturday afternoon with an extended party at Erica's house.
I arrived first with Dagny, who had been at our house that morning, helping TG with yard work.
She earned ten dollars and added to that some money she already had, and we went shopping for her mother's Mother's Day gift.
Our Mother's Day party at Erica's house was on the day before
We found just what Dagny wanted to give her mother, along with an appropriately sentimental card featuring butterflies, at TJ Maxx.
That task completed, we headed out to Erica's and got there in the mid afternoon.
She had Honeyjubu on a loop on the TV and I relaxed and watched it mesmerized, for at least an hour.
Don't judge until you have binge-watched a homemaker in Seoul, South Korea, make food you'd probably never eat and relentlessly clean her already-immaculate house.
There were hamburgers and chicken done on the grill
There are a number of these types of channels and somehow these ladies make housework soul-soothing. I'm in because domesticity is basically my middle name.
(Another of Erica's favorite channels to stream on YouTube throughout the day is Bread Story. Yeah. Your mouth will water watching Japanese bakers do their thing but it will be enjoyable.)
In due time Audrey arrived, followed by Chad and then TG, and we started thinking about having supper.
There were chicken breasts and hamburgers cooked by Chad on the grill, plus a huge green salad and potato salad and corn on the cob.
Erica had made a lavish green salad, plus potato salad
I had again created my from-scratch vanilla pound cake with amaretto icing, and Erica had whipped up Lime Dessert from a legacy recipe made in decades past by TG's mother.
The only difference in the way Grandma (and Erica) made it from the original recipe of Grandma's old friend Anna Funk, was that they both used graham cracker crumbs for the crust, instead of chocolate wafer crumbs.
(Erica had contacted her Aunt Ruthie, TG's sister, to acquire said recipe, which Ruth provided in a text of a picture of Grandma's actual recipe card.)
There were fresh strawberries to put atop your slice of pound cake, if you desired.
Erica's sideboard was laden with gifts
Along with a dress given to me for Christmas by Erica, I wore my mother's diamond earrings and one of the two Ginger Snaps necklaces I had given her over the years, which she loved.
The meal was divine and when it was over all except for the dessert, none of us could yet face dessert.
Chad and TG went out front to sit on the porch and watch Rhett play in the yard.
We ladies lounged in the living room and chatted while the Japanese bakers on TV made enough bread and rolls and cakes and donuts to feed the Spanish Armada.
I have made a habit of making this vanilla pound cake
In due time the men came back inside and we decided it was time for presents.
We girls all give and get presents on Mother's Day. Do they do that in your family?
In my version of events, this whole thing was started by my late mother. I don't remember the year, but I do remember being touched the first time my mother gave me a present on Mother's Day.
None of my daughters were married or mothers at that time.
Since I love buying and giving presents, I knew that henceforth and forever, when my daughters did become mothers, I would buy them gifts on Mother's Day.
We will use just about any excuse to give presents to one another
And I have always done so.
A few weeks ago, TG went on his annual golf trip at Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville, where he and some longtime friends have a four-day tournament named after one of their members who has passed on.
They stay in the cottages at Hermitage, where a herd of Scottish black-faced sheep roam the golf course at will.
He left home late on a Tuesday and traveled to Knoxville, where he played a pre-golf tournament game of golf with our Andrew, and then had dinner with him and Brittany and Ember.
I had prepared Brittany's Mother's Day gift and sent it along with him. I also sent fresh-baked bread.
Erica provided fresh strawberries to put on your cake or eat by themselves
For my girls I typically buy kitchen-themed gifts, since we all love dishes. Audrey got a necklace and a mug.
In fact, so that I and each of my three daughters could have one, I bought a set of Calamity Ware Things Could Be Worse mugs.
To remind all of us that as bad as things are on any given day, they could always be ... you guessed it. Worse.
Everyone (except Stephanie, who hasn't got hers yet and I hope she's not reading this) thought those were really funny and useful.
My gift from Andrew and Brittany was in this pretty bag ... the hot-pink mailer was from Stephanie
The idea for that gift was hatched when, in mid-April, we had gathered at Cracker Barrel in Fort Mill, South Carolina, right on the North Carolina line, for Allissa's fifteenth birthday party.
(I have yet to tell you all about that party, but I will do so.)
A few of us were served our meals on Cracker Barrel's classic Blue Willow plates.
Audrey commented on how much she loves blue and white dishes and Blue Willow in particular.
Our friend Andrea from church was smiling by the time services were over
It was only a few days later when my consciousness was raised (hint: if you have something to sell, Instagram advertising works) to the existence of Calamity Ware.
It's a particularly meaningful gift coming from me, because I do (ahem) tend to envision the worst-case scenario first, before relaxing and considering a better-case outcome.
(I mean, I'm pretty sure it behooves a pirate to see the blackest angle to begin with, so that everything after that looks rosier. And there IS a pirate ship on the Things Could Be Worse mugs. I figure it's coming to the rescue.)
Four cards: one from each of my four babies
As they are every year, my children were especially generous to and thoughtful of me. I am a fortunate mother.
Then it really was time for dessert. I enjoyed a thin slice of vanilla pound cake with strawberries, as well as a square of Grandma's Lime Dessert.
Scrumptious.
We didn't want the party to break up, but eventually it did and we all went home to get a good sleep in preparation for Mother's Day.
From the Kitchen of Anna F, who was a dear friend to TG's family: TG's mom's decades-old recipe card
At our church there is a lavish breakfast for ladies only, during the Sunday School hour on Mother's Day.
We were all there and sat at a table together with our friend Andrea, whose mother was not with her.
(It takes some effort to cheer Andrea up on Mother's Day every year because she longs for her mom to join her, and there were some tears, and she refused to eat, but Dagny got her some chocolate milk and she drank that and perked up.)
Then we had a church service in which, as every year since 1986, the Mother of the Year was recognized and given a beautiful commemorative plaque and other gifts.
Cousins: Dagny and Rhett
This year, the Mother of the Year was the daughter of our church's first-ever Mother of the Year thirty-seven years ago. I thought that was special.
Other mothers were recognized as well, and then there was a sermon and it was over.
We took some pictures in the parking lot before going home to change into more casual clothes.
Little Mama: One in her arms and another on board
Then we all met at Waffle House.
I know! Two breakfasts in four hours! But we managed it, and it was super fun.
(We did it for Chad and TG, who had not eaten yet that day. We weren't about to cook for them, haha.)
My sister, Kay, was never far from my mind on Mother's Day. She would be starting chemo the very next day.
When I was in Greenville the week before, we had gone to the store for fake flowers and then visited our mother's grave.
Mother's Day 2023: Me with two of my three daughters and one of my four granddaughters
I'm glad my mom isn't alive to see Kay, her firstborn, go through cancer treatments again.
She would have been devastated.
But my sister is a trouper and if I know her at all, she will weather this storm with grace and aplomb as she has done before.
I'm in touch with her every day and so far, she is hanging in there.
She needs your continued prayers and I covet them for her.
Kay and I placed flowers at our mother's grave last week
Now it's on to the next event, which for me is in a few weeks and I cannot WAIT to tell you about it, once it has taken place.
But you will have to wait because it's still in the future and even the Pirate cannot write about what has yet to happen.
Meanwhile, how was your Mother's Day?
I'm anxious for the details.
And that is all for now.
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Happy Thursday
