June is passing quickly as the entire year has done. I’m rather glad the pandemic is slowing down also.

This is the fifth gathering of another year and this year is half gone. 

All of us were present and accounted for; Betty West, Lucy Branson, Mary Jo Crider, Shirley Huffman, Linda Crider, Pam Hale and Susie Kleffner. Special guest Florence – Mary Jo’s cousin 

The sisters gathered at the home of Mary Jo Crider for a delicious breakfast. The table was set with Mary Jo’s chicken placemats and dishes providing us with a cheerful place to dine. As always the food was delicious. We had Breakfast Pockets (scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese in a pita pocket bread).The pockets were accompanied with fresh cantaloupe and pineapple. There was also a cherry coffee cake. This wonderful breakfast provided the fuel we needed to get us through a fun and busy morning.

Of course talk of our lives past and present started the day. It is a joy to us all “especially me” when we meet and hear from you “our fans.” It is rewarding to know others get almost as much joy as we do from our sisters days.

Conversation started with our cranky Grandmas. When you’re a kid it’s hard to understand what makes someone so cranky. Mary Jo’s grandma was cranky with her for letting her little brother hide in her skirts when Grandma was after him. Shirley went to stay with our Grandma after school. After an early supper Grandma would lie down to take a nap. Shirley would do her homework then get a book and sit at the kitchen table to read. In a little while Grandma would say, “With all this noise I can’t sleep so I might as well get up.” We all know how noisy those book pages are when you turn them. 

The rioting was mentioned and that lead to talking about having black friends. Most of us do and we agreed that the last thing we would judge a person by is the color of their skin. I heard a line in a country song that says it all for me “it’s hard to live in color if all you see is black and white.” I like my colorful life and I hope I bring color to other lives or at least brighten the colors in theirs. 

Things are starting to move toward the new normal. We are allowed to go to church with stipulations, go out to eat with stipulations, go shopping with stipulations and so on and so forth…with stipulations.

We moved to the deck off Mary Jo’s kitchen and talked some more. 

It looks like Katie’s house is sold. Lucy took the swing over to her deck, the one she and Katie sat in every evening. 

Betty’s daughter Lori goes walking very morning. She would pass her brother, Ray’s house at the end of her walk and he would be sitting there waiting for her and they would have a cup of coffee. After we lost him in May she changed her route so she didn’t have to pass his house with him not there.

When everyone was ready, we loaded up in Mary Jo’s minivan and Susie’s truck to head for the lovely town of St Elizabeth. I drove my car to the Highway 52 junction then got in with Susie. Our first stop was the Catholic Church where we picked up Mary Jo’s cousin Florence. We then proceeded down Highway 52 (enjoying the wild flowers along the road) to the junction of Route P and stopped at the Caring Center. It is a wonderful thrift store full of a variety of nice things like knick knacks, clothes, toys, jewelry, and much, much more. But not quite as much as they had when we arrived. 

We moved on to the Shell Trading Co. There were antiques and lots of other things. The lady that runs it has the front corner set up to make quilts. She sets the tops together then has them machine quilted. We immediately had a connection and she had some beautiful quilts.

When everyone was finished looking and shopping there, we moved on to Miss Kitty’s bar and grill for lunch. Susie and I had never been there before, everyone else had. It was friendly, cozy and nicely decorated. The food was wonderful. Mary Jo and Florence had Philly Cheese steak sandwiches with sweet potato waffle fries. The rest of us had cheeseburger. Everyone but me had French fries and salad. I had a salad and the best potato salad I have ever tasted. We all had a slice of pie for dessert, some apple crumb, some coconut cream and some lemon. As we waited for our pie to come who should walk in but brother, Harold. We visited with him for a little while. It was good to have a brother drop by again.

As usual conversation accompanied our meal. We talked about what all we had found at Katie’s sale. Another topic was stainless steel pans. Shirley told us how she used hers to cook beets for canning when they lived on the farm. One time she and her son, Rob lifted a pan of boiling beets off the stove. As they moved it toward the table it slipped out of their hands and fell to the floor. Nothing spilled and not one drop of beet juice splashed out. Wow! I wonder if their guardian angels have red wings now?

Mary Jo and Florence caught up on their family news. Florence told us about how they are refurbishing the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church. 

Someone mentioned they had seen a couple of Japanese beetles, so get ready they’re on the way.

The Trading Post has been sold. There won’t be much changed in the store itself. The new owners are members of the next generation in the current owner’s family.

There are a lot of different recipes for chocolate zucchini bread. Of course, none of them was the exact one wanted. I’ve never had chocolate zucchini bread so I couldn’t be much help.

We finally headed for home. Susie dropped me off at my car and I headed back to Jeff City. Everyone else went back to Mary Jo’s to have their pie and wrap up the day. I gave them permission to talk about me if they got desperate for topics. Ha! Ha! Like that’s ever going to happen. I don’t know if they did or not and I’m not going to ask. 

Thank you Florence. You added to our day. It’s nice to have a special guest for our special day.

A thought from us to you: Good friends help you to find important things when you’ve lost them…your smile, your hope and your courage.

Advice from an old Farmer: It doesn’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.