Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada… and stay right here for "Joni and Friends".
Thanks for listening in where, as you know, I love talking about family and friends – and being this is the last week of summer, I always think of the way my family would take “one last trip” down to Ocean City to visit the beach situated on a narrow barrier island along the coast of Maryland. We’d always make that long drive down to the beach that last week before Labor Day. My mother owned a cute little condominium on the 4th floor of Harbour Island looking toward the Eastern Shore; the Atlantic Ocean was behind us about three blocks to the east. You could stand on my mother’s balcony and look one way to see the ocean, and the other way and enjoy a sunset over Sinepuxent Bay.
My husband Ken and I really enjoyed spending many last weeks of August with my mom down at her condo. Ken would love to play tennis with her. There was a single tennis court there at Harbour Island, and Lindy (my mother) loved to take any one of her family members on. Ken, especially, since he used to coach tennis when he taught high school. And me, well I’d love sitting on the sidelines watching them play – and I was so amazed that my mother – let’s see she may have been 80 or 81 -- could place the ball anywhere she chose. And nobody – I mean nobody -- could beat her backhand.
After tennis, we’d head back to the condo to enjoy the sunset. Ken would shower and we would sit out back on the balcony looking out over the bay. Mom would be inside in the kitchen – because the last week of August was always reserved for a very special crab cake dinner to celebrate the end of summer. And nobody can beat my mother’s crab cakes. I know. I used to order them whenever I saw them on a restaurant menu – you know they’d say “Maryland Crab Cakes.” But no, they were never as good as my mom’s.
Anyway, earlier in the day, my mother had sent Ken over to the boat docks on the Eastern Shore to purchase a couple of cans of fresh jumbo lump crab meat. Chopped onions, celery, Colman’s mustard, a little mayonnaise, bread crumbs… and when she served them hot with steamed corn-on-the-cob and fresh cut tomatoes with applesauce, oh, my goodness, what a dinner! To this day my husband still brags about Lindy Eareckson’s crab cakes.
You know I think I told you a week or so ago that this month marks the 10th anniversary of my mother’s homegoing to heaven. And, oh, I do miss her still. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t think of her. When I do think of her, that marvelous little verse from Proverbs 31:17 comes to mind, “She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” Yep, that’s Lindy. My mother was never afraid of work and I used to love looking at her strong, tanned arms and large hands. I think I got my love of work from my mother… I do come by it honestly, I do! So! Tonight Ken and I are pulling out my mother’s recipe and cooking up crab cakes to celebrate the last week of summer. And we invite you to do the same. When you have a chance, visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for your copy of my mother’s recipe card – or you can download it right off our website. Again, that’s joniandfriends.org. And seeing this is the end of August, I pray that as you close out this warm and wonderful season, you, too, will treasure special times, maybe even a special meal with your family. So don’t forget, please come by my radio page at joniandfriends.org. Oh, and I'll post a couple of fun photos of Lindy and me for you to enjoy, as well! God bless you and thanks for listening to “Joni and Friends”.
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