No Photos....Couldn't Believe It!

Yesterday Warren, Georgia and I had a wonderful time.

In spite of the fact that Warren and Georgia have joined me 

in my illness (cold) and were both a bit uncomfortable too.
Perhaps this was why I forgot my camera....
but I left it at home.

It was a family reunion of sorts.

Warren's Aunt and Uncle from California had flown in.

The local Aunts and Uncles and two of his cousins

all got together at Aunt Betty and Uncle Jim's farm.

Now, you have to understand that this is the house that his 

uncle has lived in all or most of his life.

He is now a very healthy and active 70-something year old.

I cannot even imagine having lived in a house for more than 

10 years at a time, let alone 70 plus years!!

We tend to enjoy moving.

Aunt Betty is a wonderful homemaker and cook.

She is Warren's Dad's sister.

Betty single handedly made an amazing meal that had special 

meaning for the Aunts and Uncles present.

It was fried chicken, baked corn, salad with hot dressing, 

baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, baked beans

and lemon sponge pie for dessert.

This was the meal Warren's Grandma Esther would make

for special events. 

The recipes just as she would have done it.

Everyone enjoyed it so much.

Uncle Dan and Aunt Donna from 

California declared there is no such food 

consumed at their California home.

This was strictly Pennsylvania fare as far as they were concerned.

At the end of the meal as the ladies were cleaning up 

a couple of us mentioned how much we enjoyed the baked 

corn.....Aunt Betty was right on top of it.

She said she figured she might get asked for the recipe

and whipped out a few recipe cards on which was the 

handwritten recipe.

Such a smart and organized lady!!

Desserts were a team effort.

Georgia brought a cake called a birthday cake.

It was a recipe she had been wanting to make for a long

time....Georgia is the person that they put recipes in magazines

and papers for.  She actually makes them.

I've cut them out from time to time, 

but I rarely get around to making them.

Not Georgia.

She actually does it. 

Regularly.

This cake was awesome!!

Buttery cake with a layer of strawberry jam and

then iced with a delightfully light chocolate frosting.

Of course Betty had made the lemon Sponge.

That is tradition.

There was also a cake with a marshmallow icing 

which was the traditional cake their family had

for everyone's birthday.

It goes by the name of their neighbor in those days 

who had given the family the recipe.

What nostalgia all of these foods generated.

This was a farm family with six children.

There is a very large age range from the oldest son 

to the youngest girl.

They all worked hard on the farm and then at market

with their main form of entertainment being baseball.

They talked about how wonderful it was to get that time

to play because it was mostly about all of the work that had to 

be done.  One uncle grimaced as he remembered that part of it.

Our kids have NO idea.

None.

Finally, we sat around the long farm table with conversations

flowing freely.  One simply had to turn a bit to the right or 

to the left to be engaged in different conversations and topics.

Then the old photos were brought out and memories 

were enjoyed.  This was so touching to me because

I often wonder if any of the photos we treasure today 

will be appreciated in later times.

It made me have hope that at some point children,

grandchildren and even great grands could be reminiscing about

family gone on before.

The legacy of the family members was treasured.

Personalities and quirks were remembered.

Especially Warren's Grandpa who was quite the character.

I loved him in just the few years I was able to know him.

More than anything Grandpa Speed loved to make people

happy and laugh.  He went out of his way, even as a very 

quiet man, to bring smiles to all around him.

I'm so glad that Warren was able to take the day off 

work and that he felt up to going.

It was so nice to hang out with extended family when there 

was no crisis.  Usually it takes a wedding or funeral to 

get us all together.  This was way better.