A fun writing by Rhonda Benton, as their family reflects on mom, grandma, great-grandma on a long life well lived, which makes for lots of memories over many years!
I submitted it to OUR IOWA magazine for possible publication. Just because it is sent in, doesn't mean it will be included in an upcoming magazine. Time will tell.
I hope Karen's Korner readers enjoy it as much as I do!
A Party for an Absent Honoree
"My teenage grandson fondly remembers his great grandmother who passed away eleven years ago. She was still living in our family home on an acreage by Dows. In 2024 he remembered that her birthday was in April and she would have been 100 years old. He suggested we have a 100th birthday party to celebrate her life and our memories.
"I am part of a large extended family: five sisters and many brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. We are always happy for any reason to get together. So I decided to host a 100th birthday party for our deceased mother.
"For the menu I choose foods our mother made for us as we were growing up. The two main courses were homemade spaghetti sauce and spaghetti with spareribs. The salad was green Jell-o with canned pears. Adding a relish tray and some homemade dinner rolls rounded out the main course.
"Every year for our birthdays, our mother made and decorated a homemade angel food cake. We always had to be careful when it was in the oven because a bump or loud noise could cause it to fall. I am not sure if that would happen or she just wanted us out of the kitchen. I had never made an angel food cake from scratch. I practiced twice before the party. Although they never seemed to be as tall as my mother’s, they were tasty. She frosted them with 7-minute frosting made in a double boiler set. Sorry Mom, not everything was the same as my fluffy white frosting was made from a mix, thank you Betty Crocker.
"After the meal, children played King’s Corner as that is what Grandma had played with them. The adults were content to sit around and reminisce. It was a fun evening honoring a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother."
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