In a Jiffy

My ninety eight year-old grandmother is the dearest most darling thing. I wish everyone could be lucky enough to meet her. She is truly a Legend; a Legacy. The epitome of living life to its capacity; the glass always more than half-full. Her glass is brimming, no, overflowing with blessings, or so she'd tell you in her soft, sweet voice. She'd clasp her hands and say, "Isn't it thrilling?" Then she'd offer you some apricot nectar or some pear juice and her award-winning ginger cremes.

My cousin, Rebecca, who I wish to be like in every way, once gave a lesson in church about happiness. She described our grandmother as having a "happy heart." Those are the perfect words to describe Grandma. Her heart is happy. It's brightness is evident from the moment you greet her. It warms you from the inside out. Her expressions of love are far-reaching.

I love going downstairs to the fruit room with grandma. There are all sorts of treasures there. Dried pears and apples. Canned peaches. And lots of boxes of Jiffy mix. Cornbread, blueberry, cranberry. I was shopping the other day and saw those bright blue vintage-looking boxes tucked back on the bottom shelf. I bent down and grabbed five, just because. I thought of Grandma and knew the smell of those muffins, or even the sight of the boxes on my shelf would bring her happy heart into my house. It worked.

The other night Maren and I decided to make some Jiffy muffins. We looked at the clock, which blinked 11 p.m. back at us. Perfect muffin time, right? We got to work. An egg and milk. Jiffy stands by it's product: in a "Jiffy." I opened the fridge. No milk. Water, perhaps? We added two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. It yielded muffin soup. Flour! We thought. So, flour it was. Suddenly I had the sense these weren't going to taste like Grandma's muffins.

Thirty minutes later, we had our muffins. Not as quickly as we thought, nor as tasty, but they did the job. Next time we'll know. We'll prepare better. That's how life is; learn as you go, acquiring the necessary ingredients: experience, faith, friendship, and kindred spirits, up for anything, along the way.