Precious Memories

"Precious memories how they linger.  How they ever flood my soul.  In the stillness of the midnight.  Precious sacred scenes unfold.  And old home scenes of my childhood in fond memory appear.  Precious memories fill my soul."  Alan Jackson

It's been a bit since I've posted anything. Not because I don't have anything to say but nothing came to mind that would make my friends smile and hopefully laugh out loud as they say.  Not to fear, it didn't last long, because today my facebook post said to name something that your mother/grandmother cooked that was your favorite. This set my mind in motion so here you go.

My first thought about something my grandmother cooked were her tea cakes.  Oh Lord have mercy, she could make some tea cakes.  Sometimes she put chocolate on them, but I like the plain ones.  I can see her now, standing in the kitchen with her apron on making them with so much love.  Yes I've tried to make them but unless you like the taste of flour, you don't want to eat the ones I make.

My Aunt said she liked her mama's cake with chocolate icing and strawberries.  Well, Lord help me, I forgot all about that cake.  But when I saw her post, I remembered it was my favorite cake.  My Aunt doesn't really know this, but Mama Highfield made that cake just for me.  She knew how much I loved it, and whether it was just for me or not, she made me feel like it was just for me.  Yes I've tried to make it but  but her chocolate icing was "real" icing made with Hershey's cocoa, not the kind out of a can.  Ya'll know that ain't worth a diddly squat compared to the real thing, but it's the best I could do.  My attempt at the "real" thing would never quite stay on the cake, then add the strawberries and it was like a landslide.  Chocolate and strawberries everywhere and the cake split in the middle.  I'm sure Mama Highfield's laughing at this, ME trying to be like her. We all know that ain't gonna happen, no way, no how.

This is not about MY grandmother, but a childhood friend posted her mama made the best biscuits ever.  Here we go again...something else I can't do.  My mama and my friends mama made them with a hole in the middle of the flour and never got outside it.  They just kept adding the flour around it until they got the dough big as they needed it to feed all of us.  Then my mama would lay it out on a flour sack cloth sprinkled with flour and cut them out.  All perfect!!!   This is where it gets good.  Another friend commented "Sherry, that's how I make mine."  Well crapola that did it.  She's my age and can make biscuits like my mama?  What happened to me?  Can't make tea cakes, can't make chocolate cake with strawberries and now someone says biscuits?

My lesson for today?  If your mama or grandmother tries to teach you how to cook...PAY ATTENTION!!!!  I watched many times, but as a kid growing up, I didn't think my grandmother would some day be gone and I would only have memories.  Luckily my mom is still here but do you really think she can teach me to make biscuits at my age?  I seriously doubt it.  Anyway, biscuits is one thing a "CAN" will do.  They even work with chicken and dumplings.  Of course my mama would beg to differ as she's making that little ball of dough in the middle of all that flour.



Love to all,
 precious memories may they ever flood your soul.
Sweet Southern Sass

Mother Like Mine

 "She's the sky that holds the clouds.  She's the lady of the house.  Oh I've got the best and the worst of her in me."  The Band Perry

My mama, I don't even know where to start, so I will just jump right on in here and say it. She definitely is  the sky, the clouds and the lady of the house.  I like to think I have the best of her because in my eyes there is no worst of her.  She walks with authority but oh so gentle when one of us are in pain.  Maybe we should ask the boys what kinda authority that broom has.  LOL  She loves telling the stories about getting the broom after them when they were younger.  Now ya'll know she didn't hurt 'em, because she slapped the bristle part of it on their butts. But that's her story and she's sticking to it.  What I got to say about that is they probably needed it.  The little devils.  I bet they're still scared of that broom and I know for a fact if mama thought they needed it, she'd wear 'em out with it.  They might laugh about it if she did it now but they wouldn't talk back, and that's a fact I know to be true.

"I'd share her if I could, so the wars would be over, 'cause she'd raise us all as friends.  And no one would ever wonder if somebody wanted them."   Yep, another fine description of my mama.  She tells us all the time we better not be "fussing."  She tries to tell us that daddy don't like it, but it's really her that doesn't like it.  If you know my mama you know she wants everyone to get along and be friends.  She never meets a stranger so I guess that's where I get my people skills.  (HaHa)  Ya'll laughing now because you think I don't have any.  Well I do when I want ya'll to witness them.  My mama loves everybody and rarely do I hear her say anything about another person.  She has seven kids and she makes us all feel like we're her only one.  Well that's according to which one of us you ask.  We all know baby girl is the favorite.  Oh wait, that's daddy's favorite.  So I guess that makes me mama's favorite.  I mean, I am the oldest, so that should count for something.

"We all need her, but no one more than me."  I'm probably the only hell my mama ever raised according to some but she's always been there for me.   I've always been the rebel child, didn't like to follow the rules and kinda beat to my own drum.  I've seen the disappointment in my mama when I would tell her something stupid I had done but she never stopped loving me.  She's always been there for me even though she didn't  like my choices and probably thought how stupid I was.  She was there when I was a young widow with a 18 month old son, she was there when I lost a job and needed a place to stay, she was there when I broke both arms and an ankle but most importantly she was there when I needed words of comfort.  Words that only a mama knows what to say.  Not just any mama, but MY mama.  My mama who makes everyone that visits feel like family.  My mama that would want ya'll to come "sit a spell" and stay and eat.  Yep, I can promise you there's food on the table if it's Sunday and if it's  not Sunday she'll have something she can fix in a flash.  Not a can of something like you would get at my house.  It will be the real thing. 

My lesson today?  Gosh I don't have a clue, so I will just leave you with this.  This post is about MY mama. MY mama that holds the clouds, the lady of OUR house and MY mama that wants us all to be friends.  My prayer today is you feel the same way about YOUR mama and that some of these words of craziness makes you want to call your mama, or more importantly go see her.   If she's not here with you on this Mother's Day, and you can't call her or visit, I pray you have "precious memories. " Precious memories in the stillness of the midnight that will take you back to your childhood, precious memories that will forever flood your soul.




Love to all...
Sweet Southern Sass

I Saw God Today

"His fingerprints are everywhere.  I just look down and stop and stare, open my eyes and I swear...I Saw God Today."  George Strait

This might be a long one but there is no doubt I saw God today.  Every where I turned, his fingerprints were there.  It started this morning when I went to church to see my niece baptized.  It's always a blessing when someone is baptized but it really is a blessing when it's my own family.  Sitting on that bench behind my nephew and his kids, the smile on his face as his wife was standing there in front of God and the whole church to be baptized, obviously I saw God today.

My mama didn't feel good today and didn't know if she would feel good enough to go to the birthday party, but she decided to go.  My mama, the matriarch of our family, laughing, enjoying her family but most importantly when she wanted  her picture made with my brother in law, only my brother in law I watched her laughing with him, being silly and it made me wonder what was going through her mind.  I wondered if it was because she's been sick since Christmas, was it because she didn't feel good today, or was it because she was happy to be there with her family.  I believe it was little bit of all the things above, but regardless of the reason, in that minute, my mama was laughing and felt good enough to be there. In that minute, I saw God Today!

"Got my face pushed up against the nursery glass, she's sleeping like a rock.  My name on her wrist, wearing tiny pink socks.  She's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes."  Five years ago today, my niece thought it was a false alarm that she was headed to the hospital.  My great niece was only 24 weeks old, it couldn't be for real.  People, it was for real and our little princess was born.  A little peanut that weighed only 1 lb. 6 oz. she was so tiny my fist was bigger than her little body.  121 days in the NICU, we brought her home, "our bran new baby girl, she's a miracle." We saw God that day.

I've been to church, I've read the book.  I know He's there, but I don't look near as often as I should.  His fingerprints are everywhere.  I just look down and stop and stare, open my eye and then I swear, I saw God Today!  Today I went to church, we read the book and everywhere I looked, his fingerprints were everywhere. His fingerprints obviously the reason my niece was baptized today.   His fingerprints clearly giving my mama the strength to go to the birthday party and feeling good enough to laugh and enjoy her family.  His fingerprints glowing on our miracle baby girl, proof that on this day five years ago we saw God bring this baby girl to us way too early, keeping his healing hand on her tiny little body until she was strong enough for us to bring her home.  That day was a glorious day, with welcome home signs, pictures and so much joy, I can't even describe it.  One thing for sure my family saw God!  We saw God that day and today I saw him again as we celebrated our family together for one special little girl.  One little girl that brings us so much joy.

My lesson today?  I just truly don't know today, but maybe I will just leave you with this one thought.  If you don't think you saw God today, take a minute and look around you.  Think about it and I promise, whether you recognize it or not, you saw God today!

  I hope you see God today!
  Love to all,
  Sweet Southern Sass

Always Stay Humble & Kind

"Go to church 'cause your momma says to.  Visit grandpa every chance that you can.  It won't be a waste of time.  Always stay humble and kind."  Tim McGraw

Remember when we went to church 'cause momma "made" us?   Well those days are long gone.  I mean I am *** years old, and it's been a long time since momma came in my room,  and I quote..."If you gonna rip and romp all night, you gonna get up and go to church."  Let me just tell you, I didn't have to be told twice with that tone of voice.  I got my little skinny butt up and went to church.  I'm sure I didn't pay much attention because as I  have posted before I sat on the last row of the church.  I am so thankful my momma made me go to church and raised me to believe because now I don't have to be made to go, I go because I want too and because my week goes so much better when I get my spiritual healing on Sundays.   Such blessings flood my soul when the choir sings and the preacher steps on my toes.  Yes, you heard me.  He steps on my toes on just about any given Sunday, but that's how I know God is speaking to me.  That's how I know I'm not doing what I should be doing and God is letting me know about it.

Visit grandpa every chance that you can.  How I wish I could visit my grandpa again.  How I wish he would reach in those overall pockets and pull out a quarter, squirt us with the garden hose because we called him Grandpa, or see that little step he had walking through the house with a big ole smile.  Lord how I miss all this but one day "I'm gonna walk with my grand daddy.  And he'll match me step for step and I'll tell him how I missed him.  Every minute since he left, then I'll hug his neck." -  Brad Paisley

"Hold the door.  Say please, say thank you."  Don't take for granted the love this life gives you.  When you get where you're goin' don't forget, turn back around, help the next one in line.  Another how hard can this be?  When you get where you're going in life, don't forget the people who helped you, the ones who supported you even when things weren't good, the ones who maybe just gave you a word of encouragement, the ones who gave you a hug just because.  Stop a second, turn around and pay it forward.  Help the next one in line, smile at a stranger or here's your chance...open the door for someone that might need a little kindness to make their day.  So many times, we can be humble and kind and maybe make someone feel loved where they didn't feel it five minutes before.

Dear Lord, as I look around at those who share this life with me, help me to make time to spend with them - for encouragement, challenge and perhaps just plain conversation.  Go ahead, sit a spell, take your shoes off and remember...always be humble and kind.

 Love to all,
 Sweet Southern Sass