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Christine
Self of Decatur is a woman who knows nothing of leisure. "I love to
work. I don’t stay idle, never have," she said.
The
rigor of her life would put most twenty-somethings to shame, and at age
84 she says she’s had a hard life, but a good one.
"The
Lord has blessed us so bountifully, I can’t complain. Nobody has
children who help them like mine do," she says.
Most
of Christine’s three children, six grandchildren, and six
great-grandchildren live near her, and every Sunday she hosts most of
them for lunch.
"Some
of them get out of church later, and they happen to be the ones farthest
from my house, but we all get together a lot," said Christine.
For
holidays, birthdays, and Sunday lunches, Christine does most all the
cooking for her family herself, and she likes it that way.
"I’ve
done it so long, it just seems easier to do it myself. I usually cook
two meats and two or three desserts every Sunday, so they can all get
what they want," she said.
Like
so many mothers though, Christine does take one day off.
Christine
said, "I don’t cook on Mother’s Day. The children usually buy
some barbecue."
Christine
said she doesn’t really remember being taught to cook, but she started
in her mother’s kitchen.
"We
lived on a farm where Daddy grew cotton and corn. He died in a hunting
accident when he was still fairly young, so Mama had a hard time. My
youngest brother was really still a baby, and there was still debt to
pay on the farm. But there were eight of us children to help out, and
Mama was a good provider. She knew how to take care of things, and we
made it. We still had the farm when Mama died, and all her children
finished high school, which was really an honor then," she said.
She
also says very few things are like they were during her childhood.
"Children
today don’t know how to work, and people would be embarrassed to live
like we did. My sister and I would carry buttermilk to school with us
for lunch and things like that. Kids would never do that today,"
Christine said.
Christine
said she left the farm when she married, and worked for a short time at
the Goodyear plant in Decatur.
"I
worked at night though, and my husband didn’t like that. I really didn’t
like it much either," she said, and she stayed home with her
children when they were born.
In
addition to cooking for her family, Christine also cooks for meetings at
her church and for their weekly quiltings.
"We
make quilts for mission work, and we work at the church all day. We
bring food for lunch, and some of the men come to set the tables and
warm the food while we quilt," she said.
Christine
is also proud of how involved her family is in church.
"My
son and both my sons-in-law are deacons, and my husband was a vocational
pastor before he passed away. My family has always been a blessing to
me," she adds.
Christine
also works in her yard and enjoys flower and vegetable gardening. She
cans and freezes during the summer, and says her son helps her gather
from the garden. She teaches Sunday school, and she says she always has
a quilt to work on.
Christine
did take a little time out of her busy schedule to send a few recipes to
share with us this month. And from a woman who does as much as
Christine, they’re sure to be time-savers and crowd-pleasers. |
