I like all seasons. I don’t have a particular favorite, but I do enjoy spring and autumn the best.

I don’t mind summer as I work in an air conditioned office, but my yard, garden, flowers and animals suffer the effects from the heat. I do not like freezing rain or icy roads in the winter, otherwise, it’s okay.

My pocketbook suffers from the cost of heating the house though. Each season has its own special offering.

I like the changing of the seasons and with those changes our meals change also. In the beginning of the year when it’s cold we usually have heartier, more heavy meals. My husband likes dumplings, rice and gravy, biscuits, mac and cheese etc.

I cook these dishes for him, but I do not eat them. I’ve never been a fan of gravy, and while I like the other foods, I also have to watch what I eat so my waistline doesn’t expand along with those biscuits! Of course, while it’s gardening season we eat a lot of fresh vegetables.

We eat lighter meals in the summer as my husband works in the heat and he just doesn’t want a heavy meal after being hot all day. We grill just about year round. Soup and chili are favorites in autumn.

Just like our surroundings change with the season, we do as well. I think it’s very fitting and much more descriptive, and sometimes kinder, to refer to your stages of life by seasons.

Think about a newborn babe – as sweet and innocent as an early spring day. If you described someone as being deep down in winter I would picture silver or white snowy hair and an aged face and body. I am in my autumn years, my children are in their summer years, and my sweet grands are mid-spring.

I come from a long line of late winter stock. I have had the privilege and blessing to know all of my grandparents and great-grandparents, both paternal and maternal. I am blessed to have my mom and dad living- many of my friends do not have their parents and never knew their grandparents or great-grandparents.

I knew my dad’s mom and dad, and each of their moms and dads. Same with my mom.

Each one of them had significant influences in my life and they were the best part of my childhood. My paternal grandmother taught me how to can fruits and vegetables. My paternal grandaddy taught me dessert is a very important part of any meal! And to fish, and make homemade ice cream with an old hand crank machine.

He is the one who wore Old Spice cologne. They were both very hard workers having farmed all their lives. They cleared their farm with a mule and plow and backbreaking work. Cancer took papaw from us the summer of 1983 when my children were very young, and it’s sad that they didn’t get to know him- he would have loved them, and they him.

They did know grandma and I’m thankful for the time they had together.

She was the best cook and she is the one who made the homemade rolls. Her dinner table was always laden with everyone’s favorites, and, oh my, the desserts!

Grandma was the family historian. She could remember dates and events and each of us called her when we couldn’t remember something or needed to know how we were kin to someone.

She remembered birthdays, anniversaries, date of death and where each person was born, and who they married, and their children. She always amazed me with her memory. She went to her heavenly home in 2009.

It doesn’t hurt as much to think of them now.  Time has dulled the pain, but there will always be a piece missing from our lives, and from our dinner tables. I loved them and I am very appreciative of the things they showed me and taught me.

As the outside changes, take time to remember the seasons of your life and those of your family members. Count your blessings by the moments and events and time spent together, and look forward to the ones ahead, and be thankful.