Baked with Love

My maternal grandmother, "Grandma", fell asleep in the Lord on this day 20 years ago!  An accomplished musician and music lover, she was the church organist at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN for many years.  She was also a piano teacher.

Three generations: my Grandma, my Mom,
and me.

But that didn't mean much to us, her six grandchildren.  What mattered to us was her love, given freely in hugs, a listening ear and thankful heart, and her homemade chocolate chip cookies!  The best I've ever had...probably because they were baked with so much love!

I treasure my copy of her recipe, carefully written in her own handwriting.  It makes me feel all warm and safe inside to see her precise lettering - I'm a little girl again, at her side in her retro kitchen.

And tonight in my kitchen, it was almost as if she was here with me as I leveled off the flour in the measuring cup with the back of a butter knife, just like she taught me.  But in reality I was creating new memories, as I let my grandson help stir the chocolate chips into the batter and lick the spoon.

Every year I try to make up a batch of her cookies on the anniversary of her death or on her birthday. But they never taste quite as good as hers did!

Tomorrow, my grandson and I will have the cookies with some milk.
And we'll look at old photos of Great-Great Grandma, whom he never met.
And we'll probably read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. 
And laugh and laugh.
My Grandma would love it!
And she'll laugh too, as she watches from Heaven.