Take me to church

Emily Alexander used to have this great line about us natural foods kids: “Some families only had to go to church once a week. For us, we went to church every single night when we sat down for dinner. We had to show proper reverence to the food.”

And while it’s true that we’ve been on the receiving end of more than one sermon from Pop or Lex about maple syrup or rice varieties or roasted chicken, a lot of joy and a lot of love came through those meals—and still does. I remember one of the first times my stepson Henry came with me to Pawleys Island, I couldn’t believe all the things Pop got him to eat. Henry had a 100% “no soup, no stew” policy at that time, but not only did he eat Pop’s gumbo, he got up for seconds. I asked him what made the difference and Henry said, “Well, if you cooked as good your dad, I would eat everything you make too.” Susie shared the other day that Mo also has definitely been missing Pop’s cooking these last 3 weeks!

Knowing this, and that Susie has been the one on the phone daily with both Pop and the hospital, Lex stepped in and organized the community to bring food to Susie and Mo every Thursday night. So far, they have had fried chicken, lima beans, mashed potatoes and buttermilk pie from Kevin Callaghan of Acme, shepherd’s pie from Sioux Watson, and “killer” cheeseburgers and fries brought by Annie Smith. Pop is recovering well from Saturday’s procedure and has walked a full mile+ around the hospital (!), so fingers-crossed it won’t be too long before he’s back at the dinner table to join them. A big thank you to everyone who has brought meals or signed up to bring one in the future!

And thank you, Dad & Lex for the ministry of good food you have kept going all these years.