My Mother's Only Child: Chapter 1 Getting Back Right...Pilates

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 Jean would be proud.

Welcome to my new chapter!

"Getting Back Right"

My Mother's Only Child.

Sherri M. Littleton

Comments

How I am dealing with my Mother's Death- one year and a half later.

Mother's Day has gone by and it was just as painful as it was last year, during the beginning stages of the pandemic. It just sucked. There is no sugar coating about it. Not having my mother, my protector and my best friend here with me is hard but having the constant reminders of that day with ads in the stores and online made it worse. Then I realized there are so many people that are probably feeling this way but feel bad saying it out loud. Well, I don't. Losing my rock, motivator and loving protector will probably never get better. But, I realized that I no longer have to put on a facade for others to prevent from bringing them down. That is not my job or anyone's job that lost their mother to make other's feel comfortable. So, I started this blog for those of us in this particularly 'special club' that nobody wants to be in but we are here. Now the question is how do we survive being members? -Sherri M. Littleton 5/17/2021

My Mother's Only Child. Cornbread Dressing

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,

My Mother's Only Child. Macaroni and Cheese

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.

SherriMLittleton

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