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MOM NOTES MAY 2008
The End of a Mothering Era
Well, it finally happened. My electric knife bit the dust.
It was 27 years old and has served us well.
Let me explain why this is significant. One of the
traditions that my husband brought to our marriage was
serving homemade angel food cake and homemade ice cream on
birthdays. It has been a wonderful tradition and everyone in
our family loves it. Many times over the years I have baked
two angel food cakes, one for the party and one for the
birthday child (or my husband) to be able to enjoy
themselves. We also frost the cake with home made vanilla
icing made from a recipe given to me by my mother-in-law. It
is sinfully delicious. But don’t ask me to share the recipe,
as I know my entire family would be up in arms if I did.
Now, back to the demise of my knife….
I was baking angel food cakes to send to my son in Iraq for
his birthday. One of the cakes had a little bit of brown on
the top crust so I decided to cut it off. (It was also a
great excuse to slice off a bit to nibble on....) And the
electric knife died. I tried to get it going, but it would
not cooperate.
There are times when you do things like trade in a car, buy
a new pair of shoes or replace your dishes. As a mother, you
look at these things as more than vehicles, foot coverings
or something to serve your meals on. Your car brought your
first baby home from the hospital. You wore the shoes
dancing in New York City on your first vacation away from
the kids. The dinner dishes are the ones you used when the
children were young because they are made of plastic and
would not break when the kids tossed them on the floor after
rubbing the contents into their baby-fine hair. These items
have special meanings as well as precious memories.
The electric knife was one of those items.
Ever since I received the knife as a gift, I have used it to
cut every birthday angel food cake I baked for my children
or my husband. My husband has used it to slice every
Thanksgiving turkey for the past 27 years. And I believe the
electric knife is in every birthday and Thanksgiving picture
we have taken during those years.
So it is the end of an era. The knife has been part of so
many memories. I am tempted to keep it in the basement rec
room along with all our sports trophies and ribbons as a
reminder of my children’s growing up years and our family
gatherings.
When the knife died, I immediately wrote emails to all three
of my wonderful daughters so I could share the moment with
them. (I could not tell my son because the angel food cakes
are a surprise for him.) My daughters understood and wrote
back their memories. It was truly a bonding moment.
Enjoy life - it is short. And, remember to buy a good
electric knife so it will last for a lifetime of memories.
‘Til next month, Happy Parenting!
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