We meet again. It is so hard to get this article in on time. I think I have plenty of time, but the days fly by while I’m doing this and that and it’s Monday and I haven’t even started yet. I’m here now, so here we go.

The flood gates open at Susie Kleffner’s house, and all the sisters rolled in at once. By the time one of us got into the house another was coming up the driveway. That was just about as close to all arriving at once as we’ve ever come, I think, and we didn’t even plan it. Those in attendance were Lucy Branson, Mary Jo Crider, Shirley Huffman, Linda Crider, Pam Hale and Susie Kleffner, our hostess for this month.

The coffee was on, and the tea was made as we gathered around Susie’s farmhouse table. No bumping elbows at this beauty. We all hit our preferred watering hole and picked our places at the table. Susie brought the breakfast offering to the table. All I can say is “Knights, eat your heart’s out;” that’s how good it was. We had sausage muffins topped with milk gravy that was as smooth as silk and a big bowl of mixed fruit. Good job, Susie!

As usual, the food was accompanied with conversation. We talked about how much heavier kitchen ware is getting these days. We were all getting our stories warmed up when someone mentioned that most of our dishes are the ones we’ve been lifting for years with no problem until now. All we could figure out is that the molecules they are made of must be getting bigger or multiplying with age. Someone mentioned that maybe we were just getting weaker as we age but voted that down real fast. None of us are aging you see. Hee! Hee!

With spring coming on fast, the discussion of what to put on your plants to help them grow. Creek scum, you know that green stuff that builds up along the edges of the creek during the dog days of summer? The trouble with that is you must collect it in the fall and let it dry out. Then just put a clump in the bottom of each tomato plant hole and watch them grow. The internet is full of suggestions, but I don’t know if they are any good.

Lucy had another of her quilts in an auction recently. The sale also auctioned off a dozen eggs a week for a year. Wouldn’t that be nice for a family. There was other stuff too, but those of you who went know what all was auctioned and I don’t want the rest of you feeling sorry about what you missed.

We talked about lightning strikes. That is when those tall church towers are a hazard. When I worked at Visitation Church, lightning hit the steeple and rectory and blew out the organ. The same thing happened at St. Peters in Jeff when I worked there. Now before you start trying to put two and two together, I was not responsible for either one of those. I was sitting at my desk in the church office at Visitation when lightning hit the telephone box on the outside wall. My modem exploded and we three girls hit the floor. No one was hurt, but the fire department came down to make sure it wasn’t burning in the walls. It was raining and thundering as we gathered in Susie’s home, but the lightning seemed to stay in the clouds where it belonged.

There was a girl who started her own business. However, she only wanted to work when she wanted to and go home when she was ready. She also wanted to retire early with plenty of money. When told she needed to work more to make more money, then she could fulfill her dreams. Her answer was she couldn’t. This reminded me of what our grandma, Missouri Crider, used to tell us. “Can’t says you don’t want to.” There is more truth than poetry to that statement. 

I showed everyone the pictures of brother Harold’s grandson’s family. They went on a cruise to Mexico. They even took their two-year-old boy with them. They all had a wonderful time. This was the second time DJ has been out of the state and the first time for Keisha and King and the first time any of them has been out of the country.

When breakfast was over and the table was cleared, Susie passed out Rosaries for all of us and we prayed the Rosary to End Abortion. We believe that the taking of a human life is wrong… whether it is 8 months before birth or 102 years after. God put us here and He will take us when our work on earth is done.

Shirely brought a bingo game for us to pass our time with. It was one of the sets that has a wire basket wheel to put the marbles with the numbers in. They are meant to catch the marbles as they come down the chute. The numbers are then called and placed on the mother board. This particular set has bingo card included and a few plastic discs to cover the number. With five of us playing and Shirley calling numbers, the discs didn’t go very far. I must tell you that Shirely is almost always prepared, at least she was today. She had small bag of beans. So, some of us used them.  Have you ever thought of Bingo as an exercise sport? Well, with this kit it is. Those little marbles were jumping out of that chute like crazy. Everyone had to be spotters and then whoever the marble stopped closest to had to get down and get it. These acrobatics triggered a lot of laughter and fun. Shirley wound up with a plastic tray to catch the marbles for the last couple of games. Everyone won at least one game and Miss Susie had a box of prizes to pick from. Even Shirely got a prize for being such a good sport and furnishing the game.

We swapped books again and got them sorted out into our separate piles. I got some good ones. I can’t wait to read them.

Lunch time arrived and again Susie did not let us down. She made a big dressing meatloaf (yummy), corn salad and hot rolls. This was accompanied by butter and five, count them, five kinds of jellies. If you didn’t find one you liked, you were just too hard to please. Dessert was Vanilla Magic Custard. A new treat for some of us and I do mean treat. Out of the park, my girl.

This got us to reminiscing about what our favorite treat was when we were kids. Mine was fresh cream skimmed off the gallon jars of milk. Thick and creamy with blackberry jelly or molasses to dip with grandma or mom’s homemade bread. Some of the girls like milk on cornbread or two-day old cake. We all remembered having milk toast when we didn’t feel good. Now I like mine better with a little black pepper on it.

Fires were another topic we discussed. When you haven’t heard about one and you go by on the road and the house or barn or trailer is just a black pile of rubble. You think of those poor people and maybe even say a little prayer for them. But when it’s yours it’s a whole different animal. Our house burned down when Leo was a baby. It left Daddy and Mom with five kids and nowhere to go. Fortunately, family, friends and neighbors stepped up and got them through it. Daddy was in the store and two men were talking about it. One commented that it wasn’t like they had anything to lose. My Dad told the guy. “I lost just as much as you would if yours burned down. I lost everything I had.” “Oh,” the fella said. “I never thought of it like that.”

The update on Shirely’s state bird quilt: she has finished 19 of her 50 blocks. I will now offer you a complete biased opinion. They are absolutely beautiful.

We talked about electric cars. We agreed that in the big city they might be fine but none of us would want one. Better the devil you know.

Well, that’s about it for this month. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers. All of you who still have your mothers, cherish them while they are here. You can never feel their touch or hear their voice or get a hug when they’re gone.

Thought: Somewhere in the middle of our happy moments we all sigh a little for someone who is gone.

Fun Fact: In the early 1800s the handle of a casket was called a “huckle.” The person who cared it was a bearer. So, what Doc Holiday said was “I’ll be your huckle-bearer” not “your Huckleberry.”