Love Soup
Today I am going to just write. It’s 5:09a and I’m getting a late start. I should have started writing at 4am. This is my new schedule so I’m getting use to it. I will write from approx 4a - 6a then get mom up to change her diaper and drink her Ensure with her crushed Tylenol and a bit of tea with lemon and ginger to help protect against colds and flu. We are in a 2020 Coronavirus pandemic so I have to keep her safe.
I’m not sure how I’m going to structure this book but I’ll just start writing and allow it to develop as I go.
Yesterday was a good day for mom. Margarita and Jessica work excellently together and with mom. On Monday, Oct 19th I shared how Margarita makes this vegetable chicken soup every Monday for Mom’s lunch. She blends the soup with a small piece of Famous Dave cornbread (which she bakes every Monday) everyday for her lunch. Famous Dave cornbread is delicious and has a slightly sweet taste. She eats the same thing for lunch. We rotate her breakfast between applesauce and banana, or oatmeal and banana, or cream of wheat.
But back to the soup, Margarita makes it with love. Sometimes she utters the words “100” meaning with this soup mom’s going to live to 100 years old. She is currently 86. That’s 14 more years to go. I don’t think I have that in me. I know...it’s not about me but I’m only 49 and I hope to get married one day and travel.
OK...back to the soup. She puts carrots, zucchini, garlic, onions, ginger, celery, chicken, potatoes, broccoli, squash, chayote, bell pepper, spinach, cabbage, and a little noodles or quinoa. Every ingredient is fresh and chopped with love. They are put in the pot in a certain order as to retain as much crunchiness and nutrients as possible. She makes this every Monday and Mom eats on it all week.
We started giving Mom this soup ever since she came. I first came to the soup idea prior to my Mom coming to live with me. I was sick at home with a bad cold. One of my friends/Sorority sisters Angie, brought me some chicken noodle soup from Vons. It was very tasty. When mom arrived I decided this would be her lunch everyday. I’ve always blend her food but the soup needed something else so I would buy 3 little cornbreads from Boston Market for I think $1.99 (love their cornbread). I would cut them in half and add it to the soup to blend.
Margarita started adding vegetables to the soup to make it last the week and make it healthier. Margarita believes in eating plenty of veggies and she’s great at cooking them. They are cooked but not over-cooked in efforts to retains their nutrients.
Everyday we eat plenty of veggies for dinner and almost always have a salad. If we are having spaghetti for dinner, then she puts zucchini, mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, and spinach in the sauce. I love Margarita!
Back to the soup, once we moved to Skyline Hills from Claremont, I was no longer close to a Vons. I had to drive a bit to get the soup. I did that a couple of times, then the Coronavirus hit our land. Since mom moved into the house she has never stepped a foot outside the door. I needed to keep her safe so I no longer went anywhere. I was able to work from home. I stopped picking up soup from Vons. Margarita upped her game with the soup so now it’s the “Love Soup”.
This may sound horrible, but I sure hope my mom does not live to 100 years old. She’s still doing well over all with a good spirit, but she declining physically and cognitively every day. Her legs are getting weaker though she is still walking short distances with 2 person assist. The conversation is babble most times but there are times her responses are spot on and very funny. She still laughs, plays with her cards (she tears them and “sorts” them), eats very well, and talks a lot. I think she definitely has a couple more years left.
