Life After Life

It seems that my life is continuing to heal from the grief of losing Mom. It takes time to heal and I wonder how she would have dealt with it if the roles were reversed.


Mother always dealt well with adversity. She had a strength of spirit that I really admire. The ability to continue when life seems to be in nothing but a downward spiral is an amazing trait for a person to have.


It took me a long time to recover from not having a schedule that required me to care for my mother. I am just now starting to redevelop some sort of discipline so that I accomplish more and more everyday.


I am pleased that my book Life with Mother has now been published. I am thrilled that I was able to carry through mother's desires and complete this. I hope that she is the angel watching over this project to plant little ideas in people's minds to have them find the book and find the help that they need.


I am again overwhelmed with Life. But this time it is the challenge of learning to market my book and having enough energy and discipline to achieve this goal. I am lucky for the people who come along to help me make this a reality.

If you would like a copy of Life with Mother for you or to give to a friend who is dealing with loss please go to http://lifewithmother.com

Life with Mother in the Kitchen

My mother (who died last year at age 98) always wanted us to cook Lob Lollie for her. Lob Lollie was a recipe from my grandmother who would always use fresh vegetables to feed the family.



Lob Lollie
6 squash (mix and match)
cubed or sliced thick
1 onion diced
2 or 3 cups of tomatoes - you can use fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes or tomato juice.
a couple tablespoons of olive oil or butter (my grandmother didn't have olive oil and would use what ever fat was available)
salt and pepper to taste



(our addition is a couple of spoonfuls of chopped garlic and you can add fresh herbs of choice. I like cilantro really well.)



sauteé squash, onions and garlic till translucent.
Add the tomatoes
Cook until all is hot and ready.



You can can this or freeze it very easily. Just increase your ingredients proportionally for larger amounts.




SquashParmesann


Any yellow or green squash can be made into a casserole.



Slice your squash in faily thick slices.
Dip in egg and then inParmesann cheese mixed with a little flour or bread crumbs.
Brown in olive oil.


Cheese slices -- may bemozzarellaa or any mild white cheese.


Cup ofParmesann cheese

Tomato sauce -- may be jarredspaghettii sauce or your own homemade tomato sauce.


Layer the squash, cheese slices and tomato sauce in a greased casserole. Sprinkle top withParmesann cheese.



Bake for 1 hour or until the cheese melts in apre-heatedr 350 degree oven.


Serve with pasta or garlic bread.



Additions to the recipe can be fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and so forth, garlic, mushrooms and such.



If you are going to prepare this for freezing do not bake and use a freezer safe to oven casserole. Or as an alternative, you can put in a plastic container for individual servings and freeze and then put in microwave to cook and have your ownTVv dinners. I buy freezer containers that are divided likeTVv dinners and will put in some cooked pasta in one section, a green veggie in another and either the lob lollie or the squashParmesann.


Mother was always a lover of fresh foods or home cooked foods. She did not want anything to do with TV dinners from the grocery. She started when she was about 70 to make her own TV dinners so she always had a balanced meal waiting to go into the microwave.


Mother loved breads and roles and anything sweet. One great alternative waszucchinii bread.



Breads.



You can use any squash to make breads likezucchinii bread.

ZUCCHINI BREAD
1 pkg. Pillsbury nut bread

1 c.Shreddedd zucchini

1 egg

1/2 tsp.Cinnamonn

1/4 tsp.Clovess

2/3 c.Milkk

2 tbsp. Wesson oil

Mix all ingredients but the zucchini until well blended. Fold in zucchini. Pour into bread pans that have been greased on the bottoms only. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

My Mother My Friend

There are three types of friends: those like food, without which you can't live; those like medicine, which you need occasionally; and those like an illness, which you never want.

There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for the friends in my life. I wish that I could fully let them know how important they are to me. Yet, it seems that real friends don't have to be reassured that you love and need them. They just seem to know. My mother, Miss Ruth, always said: If you want to have a friend, you have a be a friend. I guess that she was my best friend for all my life.


When did we become friends? When did our relationship change from me being the child to me being a woman and an equal? I think that it was about the age of 28. It was at the age of 28 that my perceptions of self changed from being a girl to being a woman and a mother. I had always just thought of Mom as mother - A supportive and authorative person on whom I could rely. But when I became a woman and a mother, my understanding of my mother changed. I could see my faults in her. I could see my strengths in her. I could see all that I liked and disliked about me in her. And that is when she became my friend.


All of my friends that have lasted longer than a minute, usually had these qualities of reflection of who I am, and perhaps more importantly, who I want to be. More and more as I work to expand my possibilities and potentialities I see shifts in the new friends that are coming into my life. Some enter to show me how I need to change some negative behaviors into positive behaviors. Some enter to teach me tolerance and acceptance. Some enter to teach me to say NO. Some enter to teach me to say YES. And the really cool ones that I am meeting now are of an age that many would call the golden years. They are teaching me that possibilities do not end at 50 or 60 or 70 but possibilities constantly keep expanding if we are willing to continue to grow. I am meeting men and women who are more willing to take risks in order to make their dreams a reality. The dreams vary from wanting to enter a new career to creating a life of contentment and quiet joy.


These are my dreams at this time in my life and my friends, both old and new, are helping me learn this lesson. But my first friend and undying friend is my mother. She does not live in this physical reality anymore but she lives in my heart. And the heart is where all friends reside.