It has been 8 months since my dear friend Kris passed away.
For the past 3 summers Kris and I had "put up" (or "canned") tomatoes together. I did a post about it two years ago, when we had our "Tomato Frolic".
I assumed that my tomato canning days would just be over now that Kris is gone...but her husband Phillip had other ideas!
On Monday He and I and Mrs. Carolyn put up tomatoes. (Phillip - a self-employed architect - homeschools the boys in the mornings, then Mrs. Carolyn (aka "Aunt Bea") comes mid-morning and helps with cooking and cleaning and watching the boys in the afternoons, when Phillip goes outside to his office in the building behind their house.)
We started with about 350 tomatoes.
We went last Wednesday and picked the tomatoes and then waited a few days for them to ripen up more. We had never seen such big, beautiful tomatoes before!
We boiled them, cored/peeled them, cooked them, water-bath processed them...
...and just 8 1/2 short hours later (argh!) we had 77 quarts to show for our labors!
For a time last week I thought I really just needed to pass on the idea of joining them, thinking it was crazy to do this with a 4-month old in tow. But Gabriel just continues to impress us with his laid-back, go-with-the-flow-ness.
Part of the time he supervised us (from his pink bouncy seat, another loan from Shanna)...
...he spent part of his time napping on a pallet in a safe corner of the dining area...
...and I spent part of the time wearing him in the mei tai.
He also spent a chunk of his time playing with Mrs. Carolyn!
Mrs. Carolyn has 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 9 (so far) great-grandchildren....she knows her way around a baby! She told me she way trying to teach him to stick his tongue out (I didn't have the heart to tell her that he already had that trick down pat).
And our other 7 children had a big time all. day. long. They alternated between playing with legos and swimming. No one ever fussed with one another...not one time! (We did have one casualty (self-inflicted), though...post to come soon.)
I also spent part of last week thinking I couldn't do this because it would just be too hard without Kris. One time when Phillip and I spoke on the phone, making arrangements, I couldn't get off the phone quick enough at the end...I thought I was going to lose it. I can't count how many times I thought about her during this process. It felt surreal to be there, in her kitchen, doing this that we'd do so many times together...without her. Last year as we canned tomatoes together, I remember standing there talking with her about our adoption process and my hopes to breastfeed Gabriel when he arrived (she was a big breastfeeding supporter). She said she'd be my "Lactation Intercessor". At that point she was almost 2 years into her battle with cancer, and just three months before she passed...yet she spent as much time praying for others as she prayed for herself.
Phillip and the boys are doing amazingly well. Phillip prayed over our meal (and over all of us!) at our End-of-the-Year Homeschool party a couple weeks ago...and it felt like we were at a Prayer Meetin'! Powerful!
Kris took such good care of Phillip and their boys...and it shows in how well they're all doing today. But she is sorely missed by us all. I know she would be proud that we carried on the tradition and canned tomatoes again this year.
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