The Gift of Hospitality

I like to publish this post every year because of the sweet memories I will forever hold in my heart.


(We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings…)

My mother-in-law (Ma Ida) taught me many things.
She was a feisty little redhead who raised eight sons, three daughters, and two grandsons.  Nothing made her happier than to have family and friends around her table.

(Christmas Day at Ma Ida’s, 1969)

Everyone loved to come to her house.  They never came without eating a meal.  She hardly ever knew who or how many would be at her table.  It never occurred to her that some would not have a place to sit. In summer,  many of us ate on the front porch balancing our plate on our laps and finding a place close by for a glass of sweet tea.  It wasn’t important that the dishes matched.  I can’t remember ever having a centerpiece!  None of that mattered.  She never owned a dishwasher.
What we did have was an abundance of wonderful food!  Always home-grown and so good.  At family dinners, at least three meats with a whole table of desserts!
Isn't it neat that many of the family were "dressed up"!  


(Dessert table on back porch)

You know, I am ashamed to admit this, but I never remember taking a dish to her house(and I don’t think anyone else did either).  What were we thinking!



The joy of gathering at Ma Ida’s is a memory that we all treasure.


(New Years Eve Party at our house, 1974)

(She was also the only person who has ever called me “little”!  She referred to me as “little Betty”.  God love her!)