Family | Page 2 of 7

The Power of Cake

June 21st, 2025
Mollie T. Cox

All the world is a birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.
George Harrison.

I have incredibly wonderful memories of my grandmothers. Unconditional love, sacrifice, understanding, laughter, special gifts, family stories, and more. I remember some of those in detail but not all.

However, I remember in detail the cakes my grandmothers fed me. Almost forty years after my last bites, I can visualize the appearance and recall the taste of homemade apple stack cake made by Mamaw and the red velvet and coconut cakes Grandmommy bought from Miller’s Bakery.

What’s another cherished childhood memory? The rainbow cake my parents bought from Glenwood Bakery. That Saturday outing lasted only one or two years, but the memories have lasted sixty. The colorful layers that were revealed after that moist cake was cut were marvelous to my young eyes.

My book club shares their cake details and photos.

I hadn’t thought about my childhood cakes until I read the opening quote by George Harrison. I googled the psychology of cake, and the best description is below.

Cake is not just a food; it’s an emotion.
Anonymous

Let’s take seriously the joy of cake and its effects on us.

Family, Holidays

Why? It’s Tradition

December 23rd, 2023
Mollie T. Cox

Before I had children, I said things like “Wouldn’t this be a nice tradition when we have children?” I didn’t know that traditions are unplanned.

The first day of our first beach trip, our sons made a late-night run to the grocery store. I gave them a list, but they had discretion. First-day, late-night grocery runs at the beach as well as purchasing unnecessary items became a “tradition.”

The evening before my sons took their first College Board Advanced Placement tests, my youngest wanted a new pen. Buying a new pen at Wal-Mart the evening before an Advanced Placement test became a “tradition.” Purchasing a pen sooner or at a different store would violate “tradition.”

Christmas morning—minutes before we gather to exchange gifts—my sons scramble to wrap the presents they are giving. Days earlier, I suggest that presents should be wrapped. I remind. I have even said, “Pretend it’s Christmas morning and wrap your presents.” My husband finally told me, “Forget it. Wrapping presents on Christmas morning is a tradition.”

Along the way I learned that traditions are events you either couldn’t stop or didn’t stop from continuing.

What are your unplanned traditions?

Family, Friendship

Cups Of Tea

September 29th, 2023
Mollie T. Cox

If you are cold, tea will warm you;

If you are too heated, it will cool you;

If you are depressed, it will cheer you;

If you are excited, it will calm you.
William Ewart Gladstone, British Statesman

This quote describes me although changing “tea” to “making tea” would also be accurate. I suspect I make more tea than I drink. The exception should have been aboard the Emerald Princess this week as I cruised to Canada. However, I learned today that teatime is no longer offered daily.

I don’t know if I will make the only teatime offered because the number of guests is limited. If I do, I suspect that the waiters in white jackets moving among the white-clothed tabletops will remind me of my aunt who likes to ask, “Who will bring her a cup of tea?” (See here.)

May someone bring you a cup of tea this week.

Family, Photos

The Blessing of Photography

August 19th, 2023
Mollie T. Cox

August 19th is World Photography Day. When I first heard about World Photography Day, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate by taking photographs. But I already take too many.

I thought I should make a special effort to open my albums and look at my photographs. But I regularly peruse my albums.

I decided to do what I am still learning to do—especially since one uncle’s funeral. Be grateful for photographs.

Be grateful for the memories I have recorded.

Never go camping without your teddy bear .(May 1990)

Be grateful to my ancestors for taking photographs at a time when photography was not common but rather a luxury.

My father, left, and his brothers in the mid-1930s. I love their poses because they stood this way as adults. Children don’t change. See here.

The photos may be blurry and dark, but they tell me things my father and uncles never did, and they remind me of what they did tell.

Thank you, Photographer, whoever you were.

God bless the photographers and those who cherish those photographs.

Family, Friendship

Enjoying Our People

July 29th, 2023
Mollie T. Cox

Sometimes, Mom, you just have to enjoy all you can in a person and let the rest go.
A Wise Son

A friend came to town last week. It wasn’t a casual visit. We hadn’t seen each other since the month before Covid hit, and during that time, she and her husband had moved over a thousand miles away. And yet, it seemed casual—as if we had just chatted in the church hallway. We both said so.

But we knew better. And so, instead of our previous too-few minutes talking in person or our hour-long phone conversations, we spent over seven hours face-to-face. Like other conversations, we covered a wide range of topics and emotions, and we prayed.

My friend gave me some advice, which I want to share. She said I could. After listening to her complain about one person’s behavior, her son said, “Sometimes, Mom, you just have to enjoy all you can in a person and let the rest go.”

Wow! We know we should let things go. But do we remember to enjoy what is left? Letting go and enjoying sounds like a combination worth remembering.

Who do you need to start enjoying?