One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 16

#16 - "When extra people unexpectedly show up for dinner, put more salt in the food so they'll fill up on tea."

Any of you old enough to have parents who lived during the Great Depression will probably agree that that catastrophic event left an indelible impression on them. In fact, the Depression seems to be a touchstone for a lot of the one hundred things my mother taught me a million times, as does this #16, which is all about making do with less.

The current downturn in the economy is probably relatively tragic for some folks, but it just seems a minor annoyance to my lifestyle, and pale in comparison to what Americans lived through in the 1920's. So I don't shop as often at Central Market, and my wine is the $8 bottle, not the $20 one. And when my husband ask what's for dinner, I reply, "What we own!"

I wonder if my generation will be shaped by any single defining moment in history? As I think about it, I'd say that the ineffaceable global benchmarks in my life (so far) are the Vietnam war, John Kennedy's assassination, the Berlin wall, the first walk on the moon, 9/11, and the election of Barack Obama. Have these events shaped who I am? Have they made me the mother that I am? Have I even yet experienced the single most important global event of my life? Click on Read More Below...


I don't know that I have experienced anything that was as defining to my character as was the depression to my mom's. But what I do know is that I have walked on the coals of life and I have survived so far, and I know that I will survive whatever comes my way because mom taught me how to survive. I suspect that yours did too.

So mom was right, whenever life just gets too crazy, add more salt and serve more iced tea.

SueAnn