No Tears Today!

Flowers from the garden for Momma



Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.
--from Oklahoma

(Follow the link to listen to the music...:)

OK, so it's no longer "morning" when I'm writing this.  And the "day" I'm talking about was yesterday.  Let's not be too picky.

When Mr. T and I arrived at Hospice Home yesterday for a visit with Nana/Momma/Edith, she was awake, alert, and in a talkative mood.  Woo hoo!  We had brought a cup of watermelon chunks for a taste-treat, and she enjoyed almost every single one of them...with salt, of course.  I texted the word that she was available to talk on the phone, and she took a call from Bro J in Nashville and one from SIL LaD in KY.  It was a wonderful morning indeed!

Made even more so, since just 24 hours before, it had been an awful, terrible, horrible, very bad day. Nothing was right; nothing was working.  Mom couldn't get comfortable, no matter which way she was positioned. She was frustrated, upset, in pain, and crying.  Of course, being of no help whatsoever, I began to cry, too. The nurse practitioner, who had just adjusted Mom's morphine the day before, adjusted the amount yet again (doubling the pump-dose from 2 days before).  And, the nurse...recognizing high anxiety when she saw it...gave Mom more anxiety meds than scheduled to help calm her.  (Only half kidding, I asked her if she had one of those for me...:-)

Well, what a difference a day makes...as they say!

We had a wonderful visit with Mom yesterday, and as we were leaving, she said "you know what I want you to bring me tonight?"  What?  "A small pepperoni pizza from Donato's!"

You betcha!

We did...and she ate half of it!  And then polished off a cup of orange sherbet!!  What a wonderful day indeed!

So, today I'm making a pot of Brunswick Stew.  Yes, I am aware that it is nearly 100 degrees outside.  And, I know that my garden is so overgrown with head-high weeds (I kid you not) that a sane person...well, at least one that is afraid of snakes...wouldn't set foot in it to find the necessary ingredients. 

But, I'm on a roll here. And, Brunswick Stew is on Mom's special request menu, because it reminds her of summertime on Nananny's farm in Hardeman County, where they would make a big, cast-iron pot of stew when the garden would start to "overproduce:" start producing more than they could eat at meals, put up for winter, or give away to others.

I did find potatoes, carrots, corn, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and okra in enough quantities to make a pot of stew...and no snakes, thank goodness.  The only thing that would have to come from a can would be lima beans...they've stopped producing in this heat...and the tomato sauce. Oh, and the chicken broth.  I'm using some shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken, so I didn't make any homemade broth.  Stew's on the stove simmering away as I write.

I also found a few blossoms to snip for a vase to take to Mom this evening (see the photo above).  Flowers from the garden...Brunswick Stew from the garden...that should bring a smile to her face, don't you think?

I hope so.  Today is all about smiles...not tears.