Canning in the Basement

Nicol (my dear cousin) and I were talking this morning about our Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Christensen. Our mothers have an incredible love for their Grandparents. They have passed a similar love on to us, and we look to the lessons that our mothers and grandparents taught us to be mothers today.

We talked about how Grandpa and Grandma would "put up" produce in their basement. Only 1/2 of the basement was finished in the home they built when they married. The other 1/2 was a workroom with cement walls and shelves lined with the essential of life.

I have contemplated how many millions of quarts of applesauce, grape juice, cherries, pears, peaches, and a plethora of other veggies and fruits (maybe even meats) were put into jars and saved for the next meal. They worked side by side and were a magnificent team. When my cousin and I were with them, they had been married for over 50 years when we entered the family and knew each other well. In our memory they always smiled. Even when they didn't feel well. They were always by each others side. That was the advise give to us by their daughter when we married: "Always in public be by each other so people will know how much you love each other that is the example my parents gave me."

My Sweetheart and I followed in their footsteps and married in the same place as my Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, and Parents. We are working together so we will smile every day. We even "put up" produce in our own jars. It is shelved away for the another day.