Day 12: Parting With Money
There are times in my life where I needed help. I was 19 years old when I started school and decided that having roommates while I attempted to work full time, attend classes at night and try to sleep, just wasn't going to work out. I found an awesome deal on my first place sans roommates and carted over the four pieces of furniture I owned. The joy quickly wore off as I realized that I only made enough money to pay rent, utilities, a small car payment and gas to get around. I was broke. My fridge was bare and my weekends consisted of laundry and feeding my face at my parent's house in hopes that I could consume enough food to last through the winter. Or at least until next weekend. My best friend was living at home at the time and he spent many evenings picking me up from school and taking me out for fast food, on his dime. My mom would show up to my apartment with Tupperware bowls filled to the brim with macaroni salad and a grocery bag full of snacks that would get me through until my next payday. It saved my life.
I have a family member who is in need of assistance in his life right now, and while I am not financially rich by any means, I am blessed to have the basics and more in my life covered. My gift today was a card, filled with blessings and good luck, a book that inspired me, and a check. When my husband asked me what the check was for I said "It's a gift. It's for whatever he chooses it to be for." I was blessed to have people feed me when times were tough and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share that with someone I love. The quote above is true....the more I give, the richer I feel.
Day 13: Food
It's interesting how many times this has shown up for me during this challenge, giving food to others. Growing up, my friends thought we had the cool house. We had a pantry full of snacks, soda pop, sugar cereals and chips in dozens of flavors. They were for everyone. Food was something that you shared, enjoyed with others and didn't hoard for only yourself. As a child, my dad went hungry more than I care to think about and he made it his life mission to ensure his children never knew what it was like to go to bed without a meal. We spent more on our grocery bill than we ever did on clothing or electronics. Food was love. Food was shared. While I did struggle with weight issues, I am forever grateful for what my parents taught me about sharing food. My mom was always making cookies for neighbors and casseroles for families who had a new baby. We ate meals together and celebrated holidays with a bounty that filled our house with the endearing smell of baked bread and succulent turkey. We shared love and we shared food.
When I was younger, my maternal grandma lived on a farm where we would spend our Sundays playing board games, investigating the attic and eating grandma's rolls. The rolls I spoke of in the last post. I wish grandma was here to make them, because yeast and I are mortal enemies. I have never attempted to make her rolls or any others after an incident that resulted in hockey puck style white bread. However, after sharing that recipe with family and friends, I was craving those rolls along with some yummy soup. I was also missing my grandma like crazy. So, without the assistance of anyone else, I took a deep breath and pulled the yeast out of my fridge. After mixing and covering my bowl, I checked back to see if I needed to punch yeast in the face. The dough had doubled in size. I had done it!!!! I made those rolls my bitch and we ate one of the best meals I have had in weeks. The recipe makes over two dozen rolls so I bagged up a dozen for my next door neighbor. I can't tell you how many times she has saved my bacon when I ran out of eggs in the middle of breakfast, forgot to buy more baking powder or recently didn't have toilet paper in my front bathroom. I wanted to say thank you. She sent me a text after her roll delivery and here is what it said:
"Thank SO much!!! I've had a rough morning. A homemade roll smothered in butter and honey sounds perfect to turn my day around."
Grandma would have wanted it that way.
No comments:
Post a Comment