Friday, April 18, 2025

Friday, April 18, 2025

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. I know for sure that this photo was taken on a Friday! How? Because the fellow you see in the photo with Mattie was Chris. Chris was the president of the University's chemistry club. The chemistry club came to the pediatric units ONLY on Fridays! Mattie absolutely LOVED Chris. On Fridays when Mattie had to stay in his hospital room because either he was sick or was not up to going to the hallway, Chris came into Mattie's room. Mattie never turned down a visit from Chris! Chris wanted to become a doctor and to this day, I always wonder.... did he? If he did, I have no doubt he is a doctor with both competence and compassion. Chris made a huge difference in our lives and I hope he knew what these visits meant to us. So much so, that I still remember them today. 

Quote of the day: A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love. ~ Max Muller

After I dropped my dad off at his memory care center, I came home and started prepping meats for Easter. Though our main course will be a leg of lamb, I did make some chicken, as not everyone eats lamb. I wanted the chicken to have a springy theme, so I marinated it in sauteed onions, peas, wine, lemon juice, thyme and Dijon mustard. 

Meanwhile here is the leg of lamb. The butcher removed the big bone, but left a portion of it in the meat. I have learned the key to marinating meat is having an acid to help tenderize it. I am using lemon juice and red wine. Meanwhile I spread minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, olive oil and Dijon mustard all over the meat. 

When I was growing up, my grandmother always cooked lamb at Easter. So for my family this is a tradition. 

My God Daughter is coming over on Easter. She is 8 years old. I put together an Easter basket for her today filled with goodies and a few of the books she has on her wish list.

This evening, I made a homemade tomato sauce for pasta. I am a big olive fan, and to me there is nothing like adding olives to fresh tomatoes! 

Tomorrow I will be baking a carrot cake and continuing with Easter dinner prep work. For me, hosting Easter dinner is important. First of which this is good social stimulation for my parents, second, it gives me a chance to reconnect with friends, and third, it diverts my attention from the heartache that I face each day. Holidays have been hard since Mattie died, now there is an additional layer of hard, making the whole thing impossible. Fortunately my friends who will be with us on Easter all get it. That makes a big difference in and of itself.