Little Blessings...

nooshinjohn
nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
edited January 2019 in The Clubhouse
Coming up now on two years since I last hugged my mother... among the last things I did with her was bake my favorite Christmas cookies from when I was a boy, and for a brief couple hours, she was just Mom, and I was her little boy again.

She went to be with God on Memorial Day of 2017. Several months go by, and I was watching tv when a commercial comes on for Hershey’s Kisses. In the commercial, a little boy and his mom are making peanut butter blossom cookies, with the kisses in the middle. They were my favorite Christmas cookie, and the last memory I have of spending time in the kitchen with her.

She had lost the original recipe she used when I was a boy, so she started using a different one than I remembered, but that was ok. It was the time spent doing it that mattered most. Fast forward to this past Thursday....

I am in Target shopping for things and as I am walking past the 75 percent off candies, I see a package of Hershey’s Kisses. It was the last one they had from the holidays, and on that package was a recipe for Peanut Butter Blossom cookies. Of course I bought it, along with all the stuff to make them.

Suddenly I felt as though she was with me in that kitchen again, with me stealing the occasional piece of chocolate when I felt she wasn’t watching. That first bite of warm cookie with the kiss in the middle confirmed what I had hoped... her recipe was found!

Life is full of little miracles, if you listen for them, and what was a holiday tradition thought long gone can live again thanks to that little angel that has been whispering in my ear. I love you Mom.

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“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson

Comments

  • rpf65
    rpf65 Posts: 2,127
    Hope you have more good memories and they never fade.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Nice story John. She was with you. As my mother, who passed a few years ago, sometimes comes to visit. Her spirit (and Dad’s) will always be with me.
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  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    I get it.

    Will be 4 months for me on the 20th.

    One item very special for me is an old green glass salt shaker.

    Was my Grandmother's first, then Mom's and now mine.

    Funny how the simple things take you back in time.
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    Coincidence or Devine action?

    The only bag of kisses left. It has the recipe on it. It was meant to be. ;)

    I think Devine! o:)

    Those cookies look perfect John. Your Moms' and your love for each other in every bite!

    I'm happy for you!

    Your Mom was surely watching you smile inside as you smelled them baking, bringing back those loving deep felt memories.

    Great start to the new year for sure! ;)
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • codycatalist
    codycatalist Posts: 2,662
    Food brings back some of the best memories in my life. I am glad to see something so small could mean something so big. I have spent YEARS in the kitchen with my mom as I was the only little one interested in learning about cooking. I don't look forward to when she will no longer be with us but I know (and she does as well) that I will keep the tradition and recipes going for all my kids and grand kids.
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  • Dabutcher
    Dabutcher Posts: 2,588
    My mom passed last Christmas Eve. I bought a bunch of her antiques and they make me smile whenever I look at them. Traditions are a dying legacy. I try to continue as many of my families traditions as possible.
    Love yours. D
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,862
    Super cool. We try to incorporate traditions with our kids. Every Halloween we make my mom's chili for a nice hearty meal for trick or treating. We make it like she did but with some of our twists.
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    "LITTLE BLESSINGS" ….cookies and little blue pills, what more can a man want ? :)

    Food..smells….memories, good times. Just a reminder to create your own for your kids and grandkids today. Carrying on traditions is important.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    I had a similar experience with my grandmother. She made the best spaghetti, and as a kid, she would spend hours making it for me for birthdays, and even Thanksgiving because I was too picky to eat anything else.

    She must have been in her mid 80’s when she made it for me the very last time (she was 97 when she passed)... I did all the work however, all the slicing, dicing and grinding. As I did so, I measured everything and carefully wrote it all down. She had everything memorized for everything she ever cooked. It was a fun afternoon that I will never forget. To this day, I am the only one in the family that can make it exactly the way Grandma did....
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    My wife got my Mom's fruit salad recipe from her.

    It always brings back those memories doesn't it. Food and smells last a lifetime if you have a sensitive brain that cares and has feelings.
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    Very true sir... I learned after my mom passed that my father and I wer both born into the same home. The first roof over my head was the same one he grew up in. The house was long gone to make was for a parking lot that was never built, so the land is now a vacant lot.

    I took my dad there(we aren’t that close) with a shovel and two Mason jars with the clampdown lids. We filled each other’s jars to the top with dirt and sealed them up. I thought it would serve as a nice reminder to both of us that we come from the same dirt and that we should use that moment as a way to move forward.

    I placed my jar in a curio cabinet at home... his is stuffed in a box someplace in his garage....


    Go Figure.
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    And this thread should be open to sharing everyone’s little blessings. With all the negativity in the world, maybe some reminders of how good things can be might just help out a bit.
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    It's been a couple of years I think but I washed my little blessing of a truck by hand today. Bleached the tires too. I'll do the door jambs and under the hood asap. The inside windows need a cleaning too. But he still looks like this. ;):) I was blessed when I went to buy a new truck and spotted this in a grocery store parking lot with a for sale sign in the window. The first guy who was going to buy it couldn't get a loan.
    n4sf97l64pi3.png
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • I get it too; as oldrocker said.

    I still make my mom's biscuits as taught to her by my dad's mom who left us on Christmas Eve when I was in the second grade which left a young kid very sad because I wanted to show her my first bicycle on Christmas morning.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    And this thread should be open to sharing everyone’s little blessings. With all the negativity in the world, maybe some reminders of how good things can be might just help out a bit.

    Well said!

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    edited June 2019
    So this weekend, the family and I are down in San Juan Capistrano to enjoy the day. We stopped at one of our favorite spots for food, the old El Adobe restaurant, and had fajitas and other great food... just a nice time. Afterwards, we walk past this ice cream shop/ small bakery and my son yells out “ice cream please!” At the top of his little lungs.

    Of course we turn around and go inside. Not feeling like ice cream myself, I look at the pastry cases. I was stunned to see peanut butter blossoms just like Mom’s inside that case. Never in my life have I ever seen these cookies in a bake shop!

    Her little messages to me always come in twos, (perhaps she is telling me to reach out to my sister...) anyway, today I was on the website for the restaurant we went to. It is a historic building dating back to the 1790’s. It was used as a home on one side and a courthouse and jail on the other. But here is the kicker for me.... the El Adobe opened its doors for the first time to serve as a wedding venue for the first commanding officer of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The date? My mother’s birthday, July 8th, 1948!

    I guess she found a way to thank me for the flowers I left for her on Mother’s Day.
    Post edited by nooshinjohn on
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • kharp1
    kharp1 Posts: 3,453
    Thanks, John, I love hearing stories like this. I lost my mom almost 4 years ago very suddenly and I think about her all the time. I know may prayers from both her and her mother was what kept me alive at times. Every once in a while she'll visit me in my dreams and when I wake up I want to go back to sleep.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    edited June 2019
    Just last week, my son(who I believe has knows my mom even though she never held him) knows things that were made by her even though nobody has ever told him. His favorite blanket.. one morning he wakes up and says “Grandma Alice made this.” It is quire startling sometimes. How could he know?
    Post edited by nooshinjohn on
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,066
    His favorite blanket.. one morning he wakes up and says “Grandma Alice made this.”

    Wonderful!
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,471
    Just last week, my son(who I believe has knows my mom even though she never held him) knows things that were made by her even though nobody has ever told him. His favorite blanket.. one morning he wakes up and says “Grandma Alice made this.” It is quire startling sometimes. How could he know?

    she is visiting him....

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    Today, he woke me up singing “Happy Birthday”... there is no way he could have known that tomorrow is actually my birthday.
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    o:)
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,033
    And another just now... my son drew this.

    ivba4garlclk.jpeg

    I asked him what it was, and he said “I drew Mommy, Daddy, and Jayden!” He is only two and a half.
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    I miss my kids. They're all grown up, scattered throughout the country, have families. I talk to them on occasion, do facetime, but I don't get to see them that often anymore in person.

    The Mrs and I are so blessed as our son is living with us after graduation. He's picky, wants to find the right job, you know kids nowadays.

    The Mrs seems to get impatient at times, nudging him, to go forth and prosper. I remind her then, that she seems, happier as of late. Wonder why? :)

    So, I'm looking at this time as a blessing. He is spending time with us, eating dinner at the table, talking about stuff, we went to the movies, really just being together.

    Once he lands that dream job, he'll be gone, like all the rest.

    While he's here though, I/We are being blessed every day! :)
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