By: Patricia Francis Good     

My mother was in her element when she was outdoors…she just loved it!  I am much like my mother, in this regard.  And, the most miraculous thing I’ve ever witnessed happened one day outdoors with her.

After several heart attacks, my mother had been weakened considerably.  That is everything but her spirit and her ability to find joy and wonder in everything.  I bought her rose bushes after she told me she hated to have roses sent to her in the hospital and watch them die.  On some days, the only thing she was physically able to do was to walk out to her terrace and cut a fresh rose blossom from these rose bushes. 

When you arrived at the house on such a day that the roses were blooming endlessly, her eyes would sparkle and she would ask, “Would you like to see my roses?”

The summer before she died, my parents’ old house was feeling mighty hot from the high Texas temperatures.  They had no air conditioning and mother always liked it that way until her little old heart just couldn’t take it anymore.  To solve the problem, we invited mom and dad to spend the summer with us.  On our back deck, I had a passion vine started.  The flowers are so unusual with their spidery purple explosions and exquisite smell perfuming the air; I just knew mother would enjoy them. 

Every day through that summer, I would take mother on my arm and together we would go and look at the passion flowers blooming.  She would feast with her eyes first, counting each and every blossom. And then she would take a big sniff of the fragrant aroma, close her eyes and smile.  You would have thought she had just had the best gift in the world given to her.

One day mother and I ventured out of the house and over to the passion vine.  It was a bright, sunny day and we were enjoying every minute of it.  As we stopped to look at the vine, one flower began to open.  Very slowly, almost magically, the petals of the passion flower began to expand right before our very eyes.  My mother was like a little child again, so excited about this wondrous event.  In less than a minute, the performance of blooming was completed and this gorgeous flower took a bow in the light breeze and we clapped our hands and looked at each other like people must do when they witness a miracle. 

We talked about it many times and mother shared the experience with everyone, as though it was the greatest and most miraculous thing that had ever happened.  How simple and precious that moment is to me now.  Two summers after my mother’s death, I am watching the passion vine grow again.  I have never seen a flower open since that day with my mother. But, I keep looking and watching and remembering…and when it does happen, I will think of her, take a big sniff, close my eyes and smile.

Sweetish Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tablespoons butter

Mix all the above ingredients in the bottom of a square loaf pan and stir until dissolved.

Batter Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup of raisens
• 1 cup of nuts

Directions:

Mix the above batter ingredients thoroughly and drop by spoonfuls into first mixture. Bake 30 minutes @ 400 degrees.  Top with whipped cream before serving.

(My mother was not Sweetish.  But, you would have thought she was based on how many times she fixed this dessert!)

INSPIRATION: