In my cassock ready to serve as wedding hostess (Summer 2022)

After that, 'our conversations' did not go beyond hi and bye whenever we saw each other after Mass.  This went on until last Spring when the Assistant Rector (Assistant Head of the Parish) asked if I could step in for the wedding hostess who was not going to be available. For context, the four main people from the church side during weddings are the Priest (officiates the wedding), the Verger (assists the Priest on the altar), the Organist (provides a soundtrack to the wedding), then the Wedding Hostess (runs around to make sure the bride, her maids, the groom and groomsmen are taken care of from when they get to church until they are ushered in when all the guests are seated). 

When I said yes, she said she will link me up with the verger - who happened to be CH. 

Saying yes to that wedding somehow made me the wedding hostess for all the weddings the church had in 2022. I worked with CH in all the weddings - and in the process, we became really good friends...I dare say that CH, and her hubby BH, are more like family now.

Highlighted my name on the local newspaper alongside other scholarship recipients - School and life in the U.S is expensive, got to get as many scholarships as possible  (December 2022)

Over the last year, they have showed up for me the way family shows up - both in the high and low times. They came to my awarding event when I got a scholarship award from a local foundation and they were by my side during my most recent hospital stay. A memory I hold dear is waking up from one of the many medicine-induced sleep sessions to find BH on a chair next to my bed with a prayer book - he was standing in the gap as I slept away, just the way family members do...I am grateful for them.

Every so often, I go over to their house for lunch...and just like elderly family members do, they always teach me all these cool little tricks about everything, as they share their life and love adventures. 

History of their house as featured in the local dailies in 1982

Meet some of my plant-mate... I potted the cuttings from CH - Queen of the night in white & brown pot, two different types of holiday cactus in the small pots in front...the Peace lily in the brown and black pot at the back is a propagate from my own collection (Nov 2022)

Her collection overflows to the exterior of the house where outdoor plants and herbs crawl on the walls that lead to a small garden which provides me with an endless supply of fresh produce over the Summer. Every so often, CH brings a 'package' for me when she comes to church. All these vegetation attracts all sorts of birds which CH can name by just listening to them. We can be silent for a second and she will be like, that is a cardinal. 

Beside letting me know which bird is which, CH is always teaching me some good old 'kitchen tricks' or a recipe.

Another newspaper article featuring their house - the one at the top (2005)

Most of the ‘recipes lessons’ are determined by what is ready for harvest in her garden. Last summer, she taught me how to pickle cucumbers from scratch - we harvested them and prepared everything. We fell short on canning -the mixture has to sit for three days before canning. Yesterday, she taught me how to make a blackberry pie from scratch - we harvested the blackberries and prepared everything. 

Below is an attempt to document the process.

1. We started by picking the Blackberries

2. Got a full bowl of blackberries

3. Our recipes called for 4 cups of blackberry and these two bowls got us there

4. Spot the pie crust recipe card at the top? Also how dope is this is old school recipe card book

5. I worked on the making the stuffing/filling (not sure what it is called), mixed the blackberries with sugar and corn starch - while CH worked on the mixing the flour and butter for the crust

Bonus step: I fell in love with this measuring spoon - CH has a set of them

6. And our two worlds met -  the crust and the blackberry mixture

7. Baked it for 45 minutes

8.Then our taste buds went to heaven - I ate my first slice like there was no tomorrow