Nanas up there!

Yesterday it was my Mother's 61st birthday. My sisters and I went to The Cracker Barrel to celebrate on her behalf. I remember food always being around at every event at my house. Birthdays, holidays, parties, ward activities, and even simple game nights around the kitchen table.

My mom loved food, but she was also very particular about how she made or ordered it;

One lemon for her ice water, no more, no less. Ice to the brim of the glass. No seasoning. No pepper. No flavoring. Place it on the side. Only a small tiny little bitty slice. Don't make it hot. Make it soggy. These need to be softer. Add brown sugar to the marinara. Put sugar on it. Don't add Cinnamon. Use butter. Add a can of Veg-all. Sort gummys by color, eat in pairs. Put string cheese bits in Buggles. Put a Kraft single on there. Serve toast when it's hot. Two spoons of sugar to a mug of herbal tea. De-seed the cucumbers. Make mine medium well. If it's pink send it back. More dumplings. One of each dessert.

At The Cracker Barrel my mom would always order the catfish platter with no seasoning, a side of dumplings, a side of apples, and a vegetable. She would eat biscuits before dinner and ignored the corn muffins. One slice of lemon was in her ice water. Apple cobbler and ice cream to go. She would treat all. There was always laughter and room for serious talk at the table.

This year we sang happy birthday to Mom, aka Nana, when the coca-cola cake was served. It was a nice moment to share. Immediately after the song, my nephew Trevor pointed upward and exclaimed, "Nana's up there!!" We all were silent. "I see Nana's up there." He repeated. We all look to where he was pointing. "I see the Nana's."

London caught on first, "Oh, there is a crate of bananas hanging from the ceiling."