My Inspiration
Ruby “Evelyn” Burnette was born one of 11 children on May 8, 1930. She married the love of her life on December 24, 1948. During the next 12 years, she and her husband, Clifford Wade, welcomed three beautiful boys.
You may be asking why am I rambling on about some old lady. Well you see, the oldest of her 3 sons just so happens to be my dad. The story of my grandmother’s life is an amazing one, one that spanned the length of 88 years, ending in 2018. This began a time in my life of reflection and cherishing memories of the matriarch that held our family together.
How To Move On
Each person must find their own way of dealing with loss. I had several people ask me how I was holding up at my grandma’s funeral, but I think that is only because they knew how close we were. Or maybe it was the fact that I wasn’t crying. Truth be told, the answer I repeated over and over when asked about my status was simply this:
“I can’t be sad today. She is no longer in pain. She has prayed that the Lord would take her for the past 29 years. She is reunited with the love of her life and her body is healed”.
You see, my grandparents’ love was truly the stuff of fairy tales. They had 40 blessed years together. And yes, most couples these days don’t see anything close to 40 years, but for my grandmother, it wasn’t near long enough. At the age of 59, she became a widow. She became the rock for our family.
And like so many southern women, she showed her love the best was she knew how… by cooking. Through the years she collected family recipes from sisters, cousins and church members. She also managed to jot down several of her own. All of those jewels of my family’s history are stored in a simple wooden box. That box has now become one of my most prized possessions. Through the years I spent as much time as I could in my grandmother’s kitchen. Her love of cooking very quickly rubbed off on me and I often say that cooking is my love language. I have only her to thank for that.
Sharing the Wealth
So here I am, with all of our family’s prized recipes. I have to admit, I feel slightly guilty for holding them all “hostage”, but my grandmother passed them along to me before her health declined. I have pondered so much on that wooden box and its contents for the past several months. What do I do? Do I split the recipes up and share them with family? Do I make copies and give them to cousins?
During this time of contemplation, I have stumbled on an answer. Plans are being put in place now to not only makes copies of these bits of history but also to turn them into recipe books for each of my family members. It may not be much, but it’s what I know grandma would want. It’s my way of carrying on her legacy of spreading love in the kitchen.
A Little Slice of Heaven for Everyone
One of my absolute favorite recipes that my grandmother would always make for me is her Sausage Noodle Casserole. As a child, I gave it the nickname “Noodly Stuff”. But please don’t ask me why I bestowed such an amazing name on it, I truly haven’t the faintest idea. For anyone wanting to try it, here you go:
Ingredients
1 lb hot breakfast sausage
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 can Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 small onion (chopped)
6 oz egg noodles
1 large can Carnation Evaporated Milk
Directions
- Cook sausage and onion until done. Mix in soups and carnation (evaporated) milk.
- While the sausage is cooking, boil your egg noodles. Drain noodles and mix with sausage/soup mixture. Pour in to 3 qt casserole.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.
Keeping Her Legacy Alive
So here I am, just 10 short months after her passing. I am attempting to hold on to every single memory I have of her. She was and continues to be someone that I look up to. The person I strive to be like. The pain of not having her around dulls a little more each day, but never truly goes away. So for now, I will just hang out in my kitchen, slide open her recipe box and bring her memory back to life through food.
Do you have someone that you lost that you have a unique way of keeping their memory alive? Comment down below with ways you have discovered of how to process the loss of a loved one.
