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The following recipe is one from Mom’s recipe box. I asked her today to pick out a recipe and tell me about it, who gave it to her and such. She chose the Zucchini Cassarole that Lavern Gallager had given to her in Mom’s early cooking years. The Gallagers ran the Gallager Machine Shop in Gridley, Kansas and Lavern was the wife. Laverne was probably in her 40s when Mom and Dad were first married. It was the only machine shop in Gridley. A machine shop is where they fixed the farm equipment, “like if a disc was broken, they would put new things in it and fix it for people”. LaVern gave Mom this recipe because Mother had so many zucchinis that she didn’t know what to do with. This was before Mom and Dad moved to Chase County and they were first married. Mom doesn’t remember the exact moment that she got the recipe.
Wash squash and trim off ends. Cut in thick slices and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and chop squash coarsly. Cook onions and sausage in skillet until sausage is browned. Drain fat. Use a little fat to grease the casserole. Combine squash, sausage, crmbs, beathen eggs, thyme, salt and half of the cheese. Turn into shallow casserole dish. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot through and cheese is melted. Serves 4. This recipe helped Mom to get rid of some of her zucchinis and she says that Daddy liked it a lot. I’ve thrown out so many zucchinis this late summer because I didn’t have time to figure out what to do with THEM!! You know the old story about the very same ONE Zucchini that is given away to 20 different households! **chuckle** NOW you know how to break that vicious cycle! KEEP that zucchini and make LaVerne’s casserole. The anticipation of this trip to Kansas is with great excitement and dread. **chuckle** But, so far everything that I’ve met with the excitement in my heart has turned out to be something wonderful. I keep telling my daughters that nothing is worth doing if it doesn’t take some effort, that you have much more self worth left afterward if you have to work at it. When all is said and done I’ll be satisfied in my heart that I’ve done what was best for Mother at this point in her life. And aside form the immediate struggle and stress of being so out of control and watching MY life slip by, as well, doing what has been right for Mom has truly been an adventure and has turned out to be what is best for me and my family, too. I tend to live my life with the “no regrets” rule. And I KNOW that taking Mom on this trip will NEVER be something that I could regret…and NOT taking her back could be something to ALWAYS regret. So Chase County, Kansas HERE WE COME!!! Mom has been up and down a lot lately. I’m still want to study and understand more about the mechanism that causes someone’s thinking to go completely hay wire when they have a urinary track infection. But, with God’s help and lots of tears, fears and effort, we’ve finally gotten it under control I believe and are planning to head back to Chase County, Kansas for the annual Bazaar Bazaar. I purchased the tickets this week and am keeping my fingers crossed that Mom will do well. We’ll arrive in Wichita late on Thursday evening and will probably spend the night there. Friday morning we’ll head for Cottonwood Falls and be staying at the Millstone Stream Hotel, right next to the Cottonwood River falls and bridge on the North side of Cottonwood Falls. I’ve always loved that bridge and I’m excited about staying there. Sue, at the Emma Chase has been wonderful in helping to get the word out that we’ll be there. She’s invited me to sing at their monthly jam session at the Emma Chase on Friday evening. I’ve re-produced my “Wishing You a Chase County Christmas” CD and hopefully it will be back from Disc Makers by the trip. Saturday will be packed. We’ve put the word out that we’ll be at the Emma Chase from 10:00 to 1:00 as an open house to greet people and give Mom a time for memories and emotions. The Bazaar Bazaar will start at 5:00 and they’ve asked me to sing a song or two and they will auction off a couple of my CDs. I think it’ll be a good thing for Mom and for Niki, my 13 year old daughter who will be going with us. All of these things have been an opportunity to teach my children. They have learned such loving patience. And children are so complete in their commitments of the heart. I have learned so much watching them with Mom…But, that’s for another blog on another day. Love to you all and if you want to call, Mom’s number is 970-275-5534 and mine is 970-275-3226 I’m headed down to pick her up so we can spend some time together today. Hey everyone! This is Craig here. I know you are not used to hearing from me on this blog, but I wanted to all let you know that Mary has been recognized in a nationally-published chiropractic journal. This journal is read by ALL the chiropractors in the country. You can see the article here. We are all proud of her! And while I am bragging about her, be sure to keep up with her music on the music website here. Mary will be coming out with two new CDs soon — a Christmas CD plus a CD of many of her latest compositions. Mom’s still with us, spending one more night here at the house. Got her started on the UTI medication and she should be feeling better in a day or so. She was already doing so much better than Saturday. Aside from this crummy cold that I’m fighting, this was a blessed day, one of those that could be easily missed if you’re not paying attention. I made home-made tacos that we ate on the front porch, yummy hamburger with onions and chili powder, cumin and garlic, lettuce, cheese, peppers, green chili sauce, freshly sauteed tortillas and all the other good stuff. Craig and I followed dinner by playing music on the front porch until Niki suggested a family walk. The sky was so breath-taking. Niki followed with the wheelchair as a safety net for when Mom got tired. She kept up for more than half the distance. Craig has a speedometer on his new geeky telephone and he had to check several times to confirm the unbelievable…that we were actually walking at a clip of 4 miles per hour! We watched the lightening in the distance and moon in the Eastern sky while walking home. We realized that the wind had been at our backs on the way out, so Granny Speedy had a little help. It was about 7:00 by the time we reached the porch, where Mom and I sat and watched the girls and Craig lying on a blanket in the front yard. I played the guitar and they gazed up at the whimsical cloud formations and shared the jungle and farm animals that they could clearly see floating above them. I just tucked Mother into bed. As I gently rubbed the cream on her face, the dimmed light struck the side of her face and I was suddenly stunned by the awesome moment that I was a part of. I felt that I was truly in the presence of God. This lovely woman looked up at me with such confidence, peace and love in her eyes. She smiled and told me she loved me. She wished that she didn’t need so much of my efforts and prayed that my cold would improve. I touched the side of her face and made her comfortable on her pillow. I sighed with pure satisfaction in my life and the blessings that take my breath away. Thank you for the huge abundance I’m surrounded with, Lord. Good Night… Down to my toes, I know it was meant that we personally take care of our family…when they are young and can’t take care of themselves and when they are old and can’t take care of themselves. But, now I have to see if I am a strong enough person to put into action what I feel to be the right thing to do. Mother is doing better today than over the weekend. We’re trying to decide how much time is good for her to stay at home, now. Pray for my wisdom. Mother has been fairly happy at Heidi’s and in some respects, especially when she was in such crisis last year, it was good to have her in a safe place that allowed me to rest. But recently she’s become less satisfied at Heidi’s and we miss her. Her year’s lease will be up in December and the decision will need to come about her continued residence at Heidi’s. She had such a problem on Saturday and it was such a relief to pick her up, figure out what the problem was and then deal with it. It was less stressful dealing with the problem face to face than it was trying to talk to them on the phone and deal with it that way. There’s so much to consider. If we try this and fail, it may create more discontentment for Mother and that is truly NOT something that I’m aiming for. The girls are excited that Grandma may be coming home. Craig even seems up for it and has the “granny-cam” up and running. I’m happy to consider her coming home, but reserved in my jubilation, at resent. She did great at home the past two days except for one time last night just before midnight when she was up raiding her refrigerator and confused about the time. After I got her back to bed, I couldn’t sleep and then was up until 3:00 fussing and praying about the whole thing. I worry that I’ll get her hopes up and then we’ll find out that we can’t handle the extra responsibility. I’ll have to learn to rest and leave the worry to God. If she can make it safely through the nights and I can get my sleep, I think that we could handle it and the result would be a very love-filled family home. We’d have some extra help and planned activities for Mom. I’ve already checked and the girls’ art teacher is up for Mom participating in the art classes with them. Heidi’s has a room open up for a resident every couple of months. So, if it doesn’t work out, we could always take her back after a time. Anyway, stay in there with the prayers. I have a terrible cold and with the lack of sleep last night, I’m feeling discouraged and I suppose writing this little article as much for myself as for you. Bear with me and my ramblings. So many older people are just cast aside when they aren’t not as viable as they once were, medicated into submission and eventually out of this world. The families of these people are missing out. I’m hoping for something better for Mother and her later years. I firmly believe that older people belong with family unless there is some reason other than selfish laziness that leads to denial of it. As long as we can keep her safe, I think that she’ll be happier. Grandpa Kleinsorge lived with us for 3 months at a time when I was a child. I wish we had a larger family so that this responsibility could be shared. My time as a child spent with Grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Phillips in their last days, will always be among the most cherished I’ve spent. Hi Everyone, Don’t underestimate the importance of a healthy urinary track when it comes to older people having clear presence of mind. I need to find the research proof on this. But, I’ve seen it several times with Mom and people who run homes for older people seem to know about the problem. Not every doctor, however, is on top of this potentially frightening, but simple to take care of condition. You have to be very proactive, yourself. Mom is much better, today. Mom just got up and is an entirely different person than the person I picked up from Heidi’s yesterday. She’s had a rough couple of days. Everytime I spoke with her, I knew something wasn’t right. I thought she was just still getting over the exhaustion of the Kansas City trip. She called Bill late on Friday night, fearing her ultimate death during the night and thinking that something had been tied across her tummy. Mom hasn’t had problems with her thinking for several months. I felt a sick knot in the pit of MY stomach when Bill called and told me about his call. I have been very sick with an absolutely terrible cold and so wasn’t planning to see her until maybe Sunday, if I was feeling better. But, when I spoke with her many times on the phone, Saturday, I knew something was wrong. I called the assisted living facility. They hadn’t kept good records for the night before. NOT sleeping, we know can cause Mom to have crazy thoughts. They didn’t know how many times she was up. They didn’t think that the PRN sedative had been used. THEY COULDN’T FIND ANY! Luckily, I still had her night-time medication left over from our trip last week and I went down and picked her up. She was not herself and looked absolutely terrible. I brought her home and did a urinalisis test which revealed blood in her urine. If I had waited for the “powers that be” to take care of doing testing, we’d have been lucky to have answers by Tuesday or Wednesday. I started her on loads of cranberry and was sure that she had plenty of sedative at bedtime to be sure that her urinary urgency didn’t get in the way of a really good night’s sleep. She slept for nearly 11 hours! When she woke up, her eyes were clear and she was my mother, again. I can’t believe how many times I’ve faced loosing Mom in one respect or another this past 16 months. I’m very happy to have her back to her old self, again, this morning. Love to all, Mary Aunt Ruby’s party was a long and hearty party. We started socializing about 11:00AM and I had to drag Mother/Dena away at 9:15 PM! As always, I had my guitar strapped to my back. So, all of the talent in the room couldn’t wiggle out of sharing with people who loved them. Bart, Aunt Inez’ son, played a great guffaw song that he wrote called, I Just Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore. We laughed so hard that the tears that had been brought to the surface earlier by heart-touching songs, turned into tears of joy. Donna’s husband, Chuck Robinson, played some great instrumental pieces on the guitar. Aunt Ruby requested, I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You. So Chuck and I muddled through it and were finally joined by all the voices in the room for the last chorus. I shared the song about Grandma Mamie Kleinsorge, 1894, (click on 1894 to hear the song) and couldn’t help but be covered in “chicken skin”, my daughter’s name for goose bumps, knowing that Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruby are 2 of the 6 children that Mamie had and the rest of the room was filled with Mamie’s grandchildren that never got to meet her. Tears ran down our cheeks as I sang a song to Daddy, Oh, Daddy, missing from our lives for the past 11 years. I think that everyone was missing and their father and remembering Dad at that moment. If My Nose Was Runnin’ Money, I’d Blow It All on You and Baby Sings the Blues, moved the seriousness of the moment to the rest of the evening which moved the room to laughter and shared giggles. But, the height of the entertainment came at the end of the whole day when Uncle Paul, after a great deal of insistence from us all, agreed to recite/sing. First he did a piece that MY father, Earl Kleinsorge, used to do all of the time and had taught me to do when I was about 11. The Old Maid and the Burglar was a wonderful addition to the party and reminded us all of earlier times in our childhood when people didn’t spend as much time staring at the television and had to come up with ways to entertain each other. Uncle Paul also shared another on that I’d never heard about an old FORD that wouldn’t die. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that I wish you all could have shared in. Listen to the video and pretend that you’re sitting right there, in awe, as I was. Love you all and thanks for reading and listening…hugs, Mary Dena/Mom was a real trooper for the trip over the weekend. It was a pilgrimage back to Kansas City to celebrate with my father’s sister, Ruby. She was queen for a day while everyone hugged her in awe of all the years that she has loved and supported her family, who mostly lives close by in Kansas City. It was a wonderful affair held at Grand Court, the assisted living facility that Aunt Ruby lives at. EVERYONE, or at least everyone I remember, was there to cheer her on. The room was comfortable and pretty and there was too much food, as there so often is. There were smiles and old familiar faces everywhere you turned. Ruby sat in the corner in a tall chair while people came in a loved her and chatted with her and posed for pictures. She really did look like royalty. She was strong and present the entire day, as was my mother. After the formal party we went to Aunt Ruby’s home and sat and laughed and sang and remembered old moments in time. Our family’s history is so important and the whole experience was so moving. By the evening’s end we had all belly-laughed, cried and hugged a lot. We had to tear ourselves away after 10 hours of socializing so Mother and Aunt Ruby could get some rest.  Dena, Ruby & Paul Here’s a picture of Mom, Aunt Ruby and Dad’s brother Uncle Paul Kleinsorge. I nearly missed the opportunity to take this trip by thinking small and by seeing obstacles! What a precious moment in time I would have missed out on if not for the tenacious and can-do canature that Mother passed on to me. Dena is STILL “the little grandma that could”!  Dena with her Cucumber Dish One thing that has come from the challenging days we’ve faced since Mom’s stroke is the ease in which I see the precious content of certain moments. This recipe was one of those little moments. Try it, you’ll LOVE it! McCoy Marinated Onions and Cucumbers A medium cucumber-sliced thin (We peeled ours) Mix together and marinate in the frig. Keeps for many days. This recipe spurred a very nice conversation about family history. Precious moments are those that pop up when you least expect them. Watch for them and they’ll bless you too. We even found Mom’s recipe box and hope to add more recipes as time goes on. They were poor and Emily’s mother died early. Emily had to cook for her family a lot. She would pick the greens next to the road for much of their food. Emily’s father was a coal miner. Her last name was McCoy and her heritage was Scottish. Mother thinks that there were 10 children in Emily’s immediate family. I remember this recipe from when I was a child. It was the absolute only way I would consider a cucumber and I actually liked it then, as I do now. Thanks, Mom! Love you… |
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