Five Minute Friday: What Mama Did

It's Friday!! And I am linking up with Five Minute Friday at Lisa-Jo's place. 

Last week, I made this confession that I don't always exactly keep to the five minutes. And this week we sort of had a heads up of what was to come, as she has had a series of guest posts this week from a number of people reflecting on 'what mama did', so I a stole few more than five minutes and I suppose you won't really mind! I just feel better confessing once again.

Do you want to join me in reflecting on what your Mama did. Join us at Lisa-Jo's:

Officially, the rules are:

1. Write for 5 minutes 

2. Link up at Lisa-Jo's  and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...

And the Five Minute Friday prompt for this week is : What Mama Did

I loved coming home from school to the smell of roast beef cooking in the oven, or speghetti sauce bubbling on the stove or even better a lasagna being layered up for dinner. I thought she was the best cook ever, except when she made liver for dinner. Of course, she always made strawberry shortcake--a white cake with sweet, mashed strawberries and whipping cream loaded on top--for desert on those nights! And yes, those were the days you had to eat everything on your plate before you got desert! I am pretty sure I confessed to her that I used to throw bits of liver on the floor so I didn't have to eat it all and I knew that it would be vacuumed after dinner.

She always said she doesn't do pies because her mama made crust by the feel and she didn't have a recipe to pass down and I think she felt like it was cheating to do it any other way. But, that didn't stop her from trying it anyway on occasion--and who really cares if the pie crust has to be pieced together when it is filled with cinnaminny apples and determination to make it anyway.

But, she found this recipe for warm milk and suet with nutmeg for a homemade remedy to chase away chest coughs. She made me drink this stuff and I still say that suet should be just for the birds. She was always making sure I was eating enough and trying to build my immune system.

She trained and worked as a nurse. She went right to the other side of the world and way up north and, I'm sure, nursed many sick people, but she never would have dreamed in a million years that she would have to nurse her own child, other than the common cold and flu bugs and such childhood ailments.

But, halfway through her thirties, that is exactly what she was doing. She always told us that she could administer a good needle, but did she ever think that she would have to give intramuscular injections every four hours to keep her daughter from vomiting after being hooked up on IV with chomo drugs being pushed directly into her bloodstream. Part of her died during those two years; she still can't talk of that time without salty tears welling up. But she helped me fight those years. When your child's life is on the line, you fight and she did, even those times, when she couldn't see the end of the road and wondered what the future would hold.

She loved to hang laundry on the line in the summer time. A chance for a some fresh air and sun and to be sure there was always laundry! I loved when she hung the sheets on the line and smoothed them out and neatly made the beds with hospital corners and made sure we had a bath that night because you can't get into a clean bed without a bath. Now, with a family of my own, I love to hang the laundry outside too and I realize how therapeutic hanging laundry really can be.


She still comes and helps do my laundry and she still tells me of home remedies like onion and sugar to fight off  a nagging cough--now, it's something she heard on the Dr. Oz or some cooking show she watched while running on her eliptical so she have a good shot of endorphins and  can stay fit for years to come--and tells me to please just try it.

My Mama loved. She still does.