Old Friends

My boyfriend's Grandmother passed away a couple days ago. She was 93 years old and had 10 children. She was gentle and kind and knew how to laugh. We will miss her. She leaves behind a husband and numerous relatives. It has been amazing to see the family all rally around and support Grandpa. Even with a large family it has been hard to make sure that he is never alone; except when he wants to be. Still, I see the loneliness in his eyes as much as the sadness.

We brought an old friend over to see him today; my Grampy. They have known each other, so they worked out between themselves, since 1950 when they met on the job at a place called "Evans". My family and his family have been friends ever since. It was, in turns, poignant, funny, a bit coarse, but always interesting to listen as they talked about a way of life and a town that has changed tremendously.

Then I thought of the fact that these two barely see each other because one hardly drives at all anymore and the other is afraid of the busy traffic out in front of the house and doesn't drive at night. Ryan and I decided to stop visiting them separately so much. Instead, we'll make an effort to bring my Grampy (who is the elder at 90, but more mobile) over more often to visit when we go. It would be a shame to let a friendship that is almost 60 years old falter for the distance of a few miles.

On another note: I lied. I apparently wasn't yet done with canning and preserving food. My boyfriend's sister sent me 4 1/2 lbs of tomatoes. The last hold outs from her tremendously successful garden. Yesterday I happily snacked on one while I prepared the rest and canned them. Add 2 more quarts of Stewed Tomatoes to my total. Ryan's Grandpa also gave me some of the last apples from his trees. I gave a plastic grocery sack full to my sister and kept the rest. Tomorrow I will can the apples into more apple sauce (as Ryan said it was delicious).

Then there is the pumpkin I bought. I'm not much into jack-o-lanterns. They are messy and often end up being the victim of Halloween pranksters. Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays anyway. If I had children I might feel differently, but there is my opinion for you. Instead I placed it in the window for decoration "as is". Because I didn't carve it, it is in perfect shape for preserving. I am going to peel, steam, mash and then puree it and pack it into freezer containers for use in Thanksgiving and Christmas pies! That will, hopefully, get done tomorrow with the apples.

Incidentally, it is no longer recommended for home canners to can their own pumpkin puree. Anything that is very thick is hard to process successfully and is a risk for botulism, or so the online websites say. The only "recommended" way to can pumpkin is cut into cubes and hot-packed. I think pureeing and freezing it will be easier.

Christmas cards are almost done. I ran into a snag when I ran out of glue stick and needed one more color of tissue paper (I underestimated the number of cards I needed and had to make more). 2$ at the dollar store remedied that and I want to finish them within the next few days.

Nothing much has happened with the job hunting. I sometimes wonder if prospective employers look at my application, see that I was off of work over a year "due to illness" (I hate that you are asked to "explain any absences from employment" on applications), and wonder if I will get sick again and have to quit. I think it makes them hesitant to consider me for employment. I will continue to search, apply, and pray.