Anonymous
“She Loved All Things Beautifulâ€Â
I first met Josephine Lyman only a few years ago, in the charming home where she lived with her daughter Marlys.
Marlys and my eldest daughter, Hikmet, had been close friends for some years, and so I quickly learned to call her “Mama Jo,†as my daughter Hikmet did. Whenever Hikmet visited Tacoma, she would come home with some delicacy from Mama Jo’s kitchen, and for my birthday one year, a luscious chocolate cake Mama Jo had baked “from scratch.†So I sent her a thank-you note:
If I were a judge at the County Fair,
I'd say this cake is “beyond compareâ€Â
with its texture as fine and light as the air.
Its icing is like a chocolate cream;
this devil's food cake is a baker’s dream!
So, it ranks you as a “Cake-Maker Supreme.â€Â
I'm going to guess you never make a single batch,
but you make each single cake from scratch;
that's why other cakes are really no match!
I'd say the secret of your cake-making
is all in the careful steps you're taking
and all of the love you're baking
into each cake!
Thank You, Mama Jo!
with love, from a cake lover,
Anna Maria
I learned about Mama Jo’s amazingly active life in bits and pieces: that she had owned a corner grocery store as a young mother, and she had worked in the U.S. Civil Service as a typist. . . Early on, she learned to play the piano, and later changed to the organ. She was a past president of the Wurlitzer Organ Club. Such talent, I thought, packed into such a diminutive frame!
My favorite memory of Mama Jo at the lovely party her family prepared for her 100th birthday is one I will treasure forever. It was laid out in her charming garden, all bedecked with flowers and streamers. Mama Jo sat in state, Queen of the Day, smiling around at all her family (including several generations of grandchildren), and dozens and dozens of dear friends. Her pretty hazel eyes twinkled, while a soft breeze riffled her silvery hair that curled about her head like a crown. . .
As I took in the scene, I thought to myself: “Today, Mama Jo is in her glory, surrounded by her nearest and dearest, in the garden she loves!â€Â
Anna Maria Malkoç
Edmonds WA
May 17, 2017##imported-begin##Anna Maria Malkoc##imported-end##