SherriMLittleton

     This 4th of July weekend, I remember the tradition mom and I had of going to see the fireworks in the STL area. Sometimes, she would take me and a friend to the Arch grounds, listen to the music and watch the colorful display. Even though it was crowded, we would always make our own little space onto the ST Louis arch steps and celebrate our Nation's Independence Day. Later in years, we would sit with the crowds, have picnics on blankets, chairs or on our cars in the parking lots of January Wabash Park while safely watching the professional beautiful display put on by the city of Ferguson. After we moved toward west county, we would sit among the crowd in the Chesterfield Mall parking lot and watch the fireworks in a distance. I still have video footage of that.       Simple, peaceful and loving memories of me and my mom on the 4th of July throughout the years wouldn't be complete without good food.  Baked beans, hot dogs, chicken, spaghetti and Schnucks potato salad was o

      This Mother's Day weekend, May 14th, wasn't as hard for me as the previous ones after my mother's death. I believe the last four years of grief therapy has helped me a lot. But this year 2024, I got back to regular exercising. I previously would occasionally run on my treadmill at home, but I did something extra, and I joined Club Pilates. For me, I needed and wanted to join this trend of Black Women and Pilates but needed that desire to begin. A free one-day trial that led to a membership and a convenient location were the best incentives I needed to workout but at my own pace. I was so nervous and let's be real ...I was completely out of shape.  I noticed how out of shape I was on my first day...well the first few months really. But the staff, instructors and fellow workout buddies have made this journey of "getting back right' worth the sweat and soreness. Even though I have a long way to go, I can slowly see some results and I know my mother, Alma Jea

 Today is April 16, 2024, and it is my Mother's Birthday.   Over the last 4 years after my mom's untimely death, I've gone through a number of changes including receiving years of therapy. But the one thing I've continued doing since I was a kid, was to celebrate our birthdays in big ways.  My mother doted on me as my only consistent parent, and I looked up to her as my SHE-ro. As an only child of a divorced parent, I was used to birthday parties and gifts. The older I got the more I received. But as an adult, I like taking myself on solo trips and just enjoy... being!  Usually for my mom's birthday, I would celebrate with her at a restaurant, movie and shopping. That was our thing. Even after her death, I would continue doing that on her day, however this year I felt my mother telling me I could rest. Of course, I took the day off to spend time at the cemetery, but I didn't go and get a massage or majorly shop. Also, I remembered I had food at home (in my mom&#

      For the first time since my mother's death 4 years ago, I made a decision to cook at home and not participate in a Friendsgiving this year. I have some of the loveliest people in my inner circle that have truly been there for me, but I needed to cook and recreate my mother's dishes. So that is what I did. I made a complete Thanksgiving dinner, like I've done many times before, but just for me. Although that may seem lonely for some, I delighted in prepping the same way my mother would for the holidays. I got up early in the morning, started on the pie and chopped the veggies, marinated the meat and made the sides. I was humming the entire time and loved it. But something different was that I added a bit of my grandmother's recipe into the dressing. I used celery, not celery salt but actually celery. Anyone that knows me understands how much I usually cannot stand the taste of celery. It was to the point that my mother stopped using it all together. But this year,

      As an only child, my mother would often make meals from scratch to suit both of our taste. However, as a kid, I was a picky eater. It was really difficult for me to try new things because I liked certain dishes more than others and wouldn't agree to anything else. As most kids, I loved mac n cheese. But specifically, I loved my mom's baked mac n cheese, to the point I wouldn't dare eat anyone else's.  I remember as a kid, everyone at our Baptist church and my mom's government job requested my mom's baked mac n cheese for potluck dinners. I refused to eat my friends' mothers box mac n cheese and only would trust a few family members recipes including my grandma and moms' sisters to also make it right. It even got to a point where my father remarried and tried to guilt me into saying his new wife mac n cheese was better than my mother's dish. I refused because even though I was a kid I knew I wasn't going to lie, especially about cooking.    

     I was recently thinking of a recipe for meal prep this upcoming week. My mother always made her meatloaf a certain way. Ingredients included Seasoned salt, black pepper, eggs, ground meat, ketchup, bell peppers and onions. So of course, as my parent, she taught me to cook her way but as the years went by, I would add my own ingredients as well. For instance, crumbled crackers or corn flakes acted as a binder while a teaspoon of sugar and salsa was the additional flavor to my mixture.       The same can go for the way I was raised to go through private schools, college and to get a full-time job to settle for and then retire. But no lol, I switched it up a bit. Because my mother put me in private schools most of my youth while financing it completely by herself, I was exposed to people with different options in life. Rich kids, poor kids, middle class kids, White and Black kids all had different views and religions than mine. Everyone competed for the next thing. Honestly that type