.png)
Garden Spices asks the question:
Mother's Day is coming. What's the Action you most remember between you and your mom?
Tonya Yeargin
It's funny you would ask that question. I was just thinking of my Mom (as sick as she was). She would get out of bed and proceed to fix our breakfast. We knew it was so difficult for her, but she would insist. She burnt everything—the bacon, the toast from underneath the oven (bottom rack), and the grits, which were hard as a rock. And on top of that, the eggs were running.
My two sisters and I fixed our plates and told her it was good. She smiled and left the kitchen to go and lay down.
Mom would do anything for her girls....Anything!
Mom later died from Breast Cancer.
Mom has been saying since I was a little girl, "Nothing Beats A Failure But A Try." I have lived up to those words forever. It's just me now, with kids of my own. Both my sisters and dad have passed.
Mom taught me lessons while sick that I'll never forget.
We would go shopping together at the local mall and then out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and drink martinis and gossip, lol
Mom left me eight months ago. I miss her love, her talking to me while cooking for the holidays, and much more.
Lugenia Radford
Being able to sit in the kitchen talking with her and watching her add ingredients to our (always) home-cooked meals. 💕
Baking with my mother when I was about 8 years old. Our favorite thing to bake was banana pudding, all from scratch. I had to stand on a stool to stir the custard while it heated on the stovetop. I kept asking my mother if it was ready yet. She'd always say, "Keep stirring. " I thought it was magic when it finally started to thicken!
Cooking together for many of our family. She also showed me how to be kind to and love plants. She showed me how to laugh in the face of adversity and, most important, how to laugh together. These are all things I can not unlearn.
Carol Landry
I'M BIGGER THAN YOU
What an opportunity to tell you a sweet and charming story about my Mom. However, this is not that. Mom was a short and feisty 5' and weighed about 100 lbs. I was eleven years old. Now, I was actually a "good" girl. In my whole life, I received maybe five spankings—spankings, not beatings. Three of those happened when I was in first grade and had adventures after school that had me crossing a busy highway with no traffic light. I finally learned that lesson.
I was not a small child and was probably about 5', 2" at eleven, thereby hanging the tale. It was a lovely Spring day in southern California. The school had gone to half days, so I had mornings free. My plan for the day was to get my neighbor's horse and go for a ride. In the meantime, drying dishes was the immediate task. Mom washed, and I dried, standing side by side. I noticed for the first time that I was now taller than my Mother.
Taller but not terribly wiser. I looked at Mom, the one who had only spanked me once when I was about three (Dad did the other deeds), and said, "I am bigger than you, so you can't spank me anymore." She took one look and said, "Horseback riding, huh?" My unwise self said, "Sure, as soon as I am done here." Mom reached up, grabbed me by my ear, and hauled me out to the shed where the horse hackamore was hanging. She, still holding the ear, grabbed that rope hackamore and began to wale on me about the head and shoulders.
It didn't last long before she cooled off and asked, "What did you say?" Big apology, and at least a little bit wiser me. Wise enough that even at eleven, it turned into something amusing very quickly, but I never even breathed that to Mom, who, it turned out, was always bigger than me.
My mom was always on the go with us. We didn't miss a dance recital, piano concert, film, play, rodeo, museum, or bowling alley. (She was known as Irene the Bowling Queen.) I did the same with my children—on the go!
Garden Spices Magazine thanks you for contributing to this issue. As they say, "Action is the magic word," and our moms have ushered us into the action of life. Although some of us have only memories, their spirit remains steadfast in our hearts.
We are celebrating our 10th Anniversary on July 4th. Our topic, "Shine," elicits your illumination—what you do to seek/keep it. Keep contributing; we need your voice. which keeps us shining.
Are you a poet, writer, designer, or artist? We welcome you to join our family. Contact us and join our creative community. Our gate is open!
Thank you for your generosity and support. Garden Spices has a host of generous contributors who share their talents. Since 2014, Camp Goldston has been lovingly publishing this magazine free of charge and without the interruption of ads. We have maintained the integrity of our mission and hope to keep from compromising the beauty of this “garden.”However, now we need your help.
Countless hours have been spent to bring you the finished product of Garden Spices. If you enjoy reading or simply browsing this magazine.
DONATE or become a member of our Patreon page to support Garden Spices. Camp Goldston will contribute 10 % of your membership support to a designated charity. It’s easy; just click the link:
OR