November 22 1963 Memories

November 22, 1963

My Mother’s Birthday

She didn't make it to her 80th birthday. She did not even make it to her 65th birthday. It's still very sad to me even though it has been a long time since she passed away.

I have many memories of her birthday parties. There's one in particular that really stands out.

I remember the fragrance of freshly brewed coffee greeting me at the door after a long bus ride home from school. The aroma of the coffee was mixed with a sugary sweet cake scent reminding me of walking through a gooey bakery. On my mother’s birthday, as was the tradition in a small towns, all of her friends met at the birthday girl’s (lady's) home in the afternoon for coffee and birthday cake. He friends gave her little trinkets as a gift to commemorate their time together. I think that they were all very supportive of each other.

This time, instead of the usual noise of all the ladies speaking at once, all the ladies’ eyes were glued to the black and white TV screen. All three TV channels were broadcasting the same story. The women were eating their homemade 2-layer cake on fancy china plates and drinking coffee from flowery bone china coffee cups that were sitting gingerly on their matching saucers. The beautiful cups were all different and were ranging in color from delicate purple flowers to pink columbines. They were made in England from such companies as Royal Dover, Queen Anne, Adderly, and Royal London. I know that drinking from those delicate cups made the coffee taste better.

This time, it was not a celebration, but a day of complete shock and horrible grief. It was a day where every moment could be remembered and replayed in an instant.

President John F. Kennedy had been shot.

Earlier in the day, I had been sitting in my 5^th grade classroom when I heard the news. One of my classmates had gone home for lunch, and came back with the news. No one believed her at first, and then the teacher told us that the President had been assassinated. There was a moment of silence for the President. There was a deep sadness surrounding all of us.

The classroom was in an old brick school. Each room had 10 foot ceilings and radiator heaters. The rooms were very large with beautiful wood baseboards. The desks were large wooden desks with the chairs attached. Opening the hinged tops exposed all the crayons and pencils, books, pens, paper and pencils boxes that were uniquely each child’s.

It's strange how a tragedy can heighten our awareness of our surroundings. It's as if time freezes, and we can remember everything about that day down to tiny crayons in a desk drawer.

That day is imprinted in my memory forever.

Did I ever tell you my complicated shingles story?

Bump, bump…I can almost hear the Jaws theme song in my head and the tale ahead could almost be as scary as the movie, Jaws, from what I have read. Also, it’s related to bumps!

A mysterious itchy bump resembling a bug bite started me on a journey of twists and turns in my complicated shingles saga. I might not even have known what to look for if my husband, Mike, hadn’t been trying to get a shingles vaccination, for months. His story is just one of the side notes to the entire shingles story, but it might have helped me to know what to look for and to push me to get help early.

Mike’s doctor had been encouraging him to get the shingles vaccination. Anyone over the age of 60 and who has had chickenpox is encouraged to get vaccinated against shingles. Shingles lies dormant in your system if you have had chickenpox and can flair up in people of any age, but particularly after the age of 60. The guidelines recently changed and now people 50 and older should have the vaccination.

The symptoms can range from mild to severe with months of debilitating pain. That is why it’s important to know what to look for and to get vaccinated.

The vaccination is a live virus, so you cannot be sick before you get the vaccination. Mike had a series of respiratory illnesses which delayed his getting the shot. Also, we were told that we had to pay $214 up front and then get reimbursed by Aetna. So, we had to save the money, plus he had to be well, so he had been talking about shingles for a while, so we kind of had it on the brain. We have since found out that if you have the shot at a clinic, Aetna covers it upfront. If it’s done at a pharmacy, you have to pay first and then get reimbursed. It’s some crazy policy for insurance companies. As I said, this can be a very complicated endeavor.

Finally, when he was well, I checked with Safeway to see if he could get the shot. We were told that Safeway was one of the only places to get the shot.  Safeway said that they couldn’t get the vaccine because of Hurricane Sandy.  They couldn’t get the supply.  As I said, this entire process has been one hurdle after another.

Now, back to my story. I was feeling a bit run down. I noticed a welt, almost like a bug bite on my upper chest. It was itchy and there was a slight electrical type pain radiating from the bump. The next day, an extremely bright red rash appeared, like the color of a tomato or apple. It had white blistery bumps on top the red rash, and it was about the size of half dollar.  I thought that it was just a rash, but the next day, I felt like something was really wrong and since we had been talking about shingles so much, I did some research on it. It appeared that my symptoms matched shingles. I went the CVS minute clinic. The nurse practitioner diagnosed shingles and started me on antiviral medication. She showed me a chart of where the shingles might spread and sure enough, they spread exactly where she said that they would. Apparently, it affects one nerve. The saving grace here was that I started on the antiviral medication early, which is very important. The new rash spots were not as severe as the first rash and that is because of the medication. She asked me to follow up with my regular doctor in a week.

Mike got his shingles vaccination the day after my diagnoses.

Shingles is contagious to people who have not had chickenpox. This happened right before Thanksgiving, so Mike and I spent Thanksgiving at home, not attending the family gathering. I did not want expose my pregnant niece and I could not be around my daughter who has a suppressed immune system because of Crohn’s. As you can see, there are lots of rules with this disease and lots of variables.

After a week, I saw my regular doctor and she prescribed steroids to prevent nerve damage. The additional rash spots were not as severe and she said that was because I started the antiviral medication right away.

After two weeks, I am recovering. The virus has made me very tired, but hopefully, I will be feeling back to normal soon.

I was very lucky because it could have been a lot worse than it has been so far. I had many people praying for me. I am not out of the woods yet, but am optimistic that I over the worst of it, for now. I have heard stories of people not getting treatment quickly and having a very long illness. So there are many lessons learned here, but the most important lessons are to get the shingle vaccination for anyone over 50 who have had chickenpox and if you suspect that you have shingles, get to the doctor right away and get on the antiviral medication.

The 12 Days of Christmas

I think that the 12 days of Christmas are really supposed to be the 12 days after Christmas, but this "secret Santa" type activity is done, starting on Dec.13th, so it's before Christmas. At least that is the way that we did it.

One year, several years ago, we came home from work to find a little package outside our door. It contained one item. Each day when we came home there was another package and each day one more item was added. Each day’s items were different. We didn't know who was dropping the fun packages outside our door, but it was definitely fun and exciting to think about the mysterious person that was stopping by each day, hiding from us. It was a very nice way to spread some Christmas cheer. Some of the presents were large; others were pieces of candy or Christmas cookies. Finally, on the 12th day, the mystery was solved. Mike's nephew, wife and kids had dropped the packages each day. It was a good thing that they lived close by. It was a big commitment to stop by each day.

Then, a couple of years later, we did the same thing for our Granddaughter’s paternal Grandparents. They also lived close to us, so we could drop off the gifts each day without being discovered.

Then, a couple of years after that, some of our friends needed some extra Christmas cheer, so we decided to give them the 12 days of Christmas surprises. They did not live really close to us, so we wrapped all the little gifts and put them in a large plastic container, with printed instructions that they should open gift one on day one, gift two on day two, etc. We said, "no peeking". Then, on Christmas day, we stopped by their house with the last gift, letting them know that we had given them the gifts.
The gifts were little ornaments, cross stitch crafts, candy, cookies, golf balls, or things that we knew that they would like. Each day was something different, but all the items were the same for each day.

They were some very fun memories.

Christmas Memories

Even though Christmas is over, I was reminiscing about my childhood and Christmas time. I remember that at our Sunday school programs, we sang one song in Norwegian (for our Grandparents). It was called “I am so Glad each Christmas Eve.” I don’t remember how to sing it in Norwegian, but I have the music and lyrics somewhere. Nice memories.

Krumkaka Recipe

Well, I won't be making Krumkaka until closer to Christmas, but I am in the mood to post some recipes today, so here's the scoop:

Krumkaka


(Norwegian cookies)

Note: It’s best to use fresh ingredients. You need a Krumkaka baker to make these cookies. VillaWare makes an electric baker, which is similar to a waffle iron. I am sure that there are other companies that make the electric baker, as well.

Before electric bakers became available, we used metal irons, which fit on the top of the stove burner. I have my grandmother's Krumkaka iron, which had designs on each plate side to imprint on the Krumkaka. The electric bakers have the design templates, also. Using the iron, I had to make each cookie individually and manually rotate the iron plate to cook each side. As you can imagine, it was very time consuming.

I remember one year, I spent a couple of hours making the cookies, one-by-one. I put them in a Tupperware container on the table. Our dog, Dakota, could find food anywhere, but I did not think that he could reach the middle of the table. Boy was I wrong! He was a pretty big dog (about 80 lbs.), with a long reach. 

We went out and when we came back, he had devoured the entire container of Krumkaka. I learned a very valuable lesson that day.

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Preheat the baker according to manufacturer's directions.


Ingredients:

4 eggs

½-teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/3 cups white flour

1 cup white granulated sugar

½ cup melted butter (must use butter, not margarine)

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs slightly.

Add sugar and beat until light. Do not overbeat.

Add vanilla.

Blend in melted, cooled butter.

Add cornstarch and flour gradually, and beat until blended.

Drop about 1 teaspoon of the batter onto the preheated baker. You will be able to make two at time. Bake for about 30 to 60 seconds until lightly browned.

Remove from the baker with a knife or spatula, wrap the cookie around the wooden or metal cone to make a cone shaped cookie, or you could leave it flat.

Store in a loosely covered container.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are truly blessed.
We have been watching the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade, which is always fun to watch.

This afternoon, we will be going to my sister-in-law's house for the traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner with family. I am sure it will be very enjoyable. It's a time for all of us to get together and catch up on what's been happening with the family. It's a potluck and each of us brings a side dish. I am bringing scalloped corn which is a family favorite.

Here's the recipe:

Recipe for Scalloped Corn Casserole:


Heat oven to 350 degrees

8 “round pan or similar size

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2 cups of canned creamed corn

One well-beaten egg

¾-teaspoon salt

1-cup milk

1-cup saltine cracker crumbs

½-cup saltine cracker crumbs moistened with melted butter or margarine (about ¼ cup) for the top of the casserole

Optional: ¼ cup of onion


Heat milk and corn on the stove and gradually add the beaten egg. Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir. Pour into the 8” pan. Place the cracker crumbs moistened with melted butter on the top of the corn. Bake for 20 minutes or until the center is hot and set.

Today would have been my mom's 80th birthday

November 22, 2010

She didn't make it to her 80th birthday. She did not even make it to her 65th birthday. It's still very sad to me even though it has been a long time since she passed away.

I have many memories of her birthday parties. There's one in particular that really stands out.


I remember the fragrance of freshly brewed coffee greeting me at the door after a long bus ride home from school. The aroma of the coffee was mixed with a sugary sweet cake scent wafting through the air reminding me of walking through a gooey bakery. On my mother’s birthday, as was the tradition in a small towns, all of her friends met at the birthday girl’s (lady's) home in the afternoon for coffee and birthday cake. He friends gave her little trinkets as a gift to commemorate their time together. I think that they were all very supportive of each other.

This time, instead of the usual noise of all the ladies speaking at once, all the ladies’ eyes appeared to be glued to the TV screen. All three TV channels were playing the same story. The women were eating their homemade 2-layer cake on fancy china plates and drinking coffee from flowery bone china coffee cups that were sitting gingerly on their matching saucers.

This time, it was not a celebration, but a day of complete shock and horrible grief. It was a day where every moment could be remembered and replayed in an instant.

President John F. Kennedy had been shot.

Earlier in the day, I had been sitting in my classroom when I heard the news. One of my classmates had gone home for lunch, and came back with the news. No one believed her at first, and then the teacher told us that the President had been assassinated. There was a moment of silence for the President. There was a deep sadness surrounding all of us.

The classroom was in an old brick school. Each room had 10 foot ceilings and radiator heaters. The rooms were very large with beautiful wood baseboards. The desks were large wooden desks with the chairs attached. Opening the hinged tops exposed all the crayons and pencils, books, pens, paper and pencils boxes that were uniquely each child’s.

It's strange how a tragedy can heighten our awareness of our surroundings. It's as if time freezes, and we can remember everything about that day down to tiny crayons in a desk drawer.

That day is imprinted in my memory forever.