Page 17 - Senior Times South Central Michigan April 2023 - 30-04

Senior Times - April 2023 Making Memories
Page 17
By: Joanna Stelloh Phelps
Jean Stelloh Willinger, my mom, passed away on February 13, 2023,
at the age of 97 1⁄2. I am very sad at her passing, but I must rejoice in her long and wonderful life and, being a Christian, I know she is with my dad, her parents, and many loved ones.
you were the host. I remember her pouring over cookbooks to find some- thing interesting or different to serve. If there were any leftovers, I remember them being tasty.
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Mom, being a child of the Depression era, was a saver. When I was sorting through a desk looking for papers, I found a stack of calendars going back to when we moved to Battle Creek in 1964. She viewed these like
a diary that recorded highlights and events in her life and kept them because they held so many memories.
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I always remember that she and my dad were most hospitable and frequent- ly hosted dinners such as the ones on January 5, 1964 for the Johnsons when she served beef roast and on January 10, for the Hookers (yes, that was their name) and Conner’s when she served stroganoff. She had a rotation for com- pany that included those two meals as well as a rolled chicken breast or for a casual supper, she served a hot dish. Of course, none of these recipes were written down.
My first memory being with her in the kitchen is probably everyone’s first memory, stirring the cookie dough and adding the chocolate chips. One thing
I remember is that she used the oven
as a storage place for the boxed cereal because she felt it kept it fresh longer. On more than one occasion, the smell of toasting cardboard wafted through the house when you forgot to remove it when you preheated the oven to bake. This even happened this last year when I thought it would be nice to bake cook- ies with her at her house but neglected to check the oven.
They also hosted get-togethers after high school sporting events for fellow faculty members with dips, spreads, and snacks. She’d plan the menu for weeks. And then there were numerous times when they had coffee hour at church when she baked dozens of cookies and dad made the coffee (mom made it too weak). Amounts were neatly written in the margins of the calendars. ‘30 dozen cookies, 150 cups of coffee and 7 pitch- ers of Kool-Aid.’
The calendars hold other milestones too such as ‘decided to buy a Ford’ on July 13, 1964, and ‘Joanna’s haircut’ on August 10, but somehow it’s the ones that involved food that are the most important to me. I am grateful for these recollections and wish I could remi- nisce with her about them again. Don’t we all wish for that chance to be with our loved one and hug them once more. Since this is not possible, I am so grate- ful to have such wonderful memories. These calendars help jog the memory and give a timeline of a life well lived. I think I will try to make her stroganoff for dinner tonight. Now if I just had a recipe.
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She was a good cook but not confi- dent in her cooking skills. There were numerous potlucks for Faculty Wives Club, Charitable Union, church and school committees, and coaches’ pic- nics, when she always chose to bring a salad.
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She was a member of several bridge groups, which required desserts when
The Village of
with Food
Stacey Lott
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