Preparation for Family

It is a sad week at the Roediger House. My mother, Allison M. Jones, who was badly injured in a car accident in September 2004, seems to be entering her final hours and days. Her little body is finally giving out and shutting down. She is a spunky little survivor, having pulled through a wreck that by all accounts should have killed her; unfortunately, there was serious brain damage and she could no longer live without care and assistance. And that was sad, because even as a 78-year-old at the time of the accident, she was still riding her bike to the post office in our hometown of Buies Creek and living most independently.

With this serious decline in her health this week, the family has been called in, including a flight in from out-of-state coming into Raleigh-Durham International Airport. From there, we headed down to Harnett County to spend some time with Mother.

Rough times like these exacerbate a family tendency to be underinformative about plans, so I didn't know if I'd have houseguests or not. We have no idea how this is all going to play out, and this is 2.5 hours from Mother. But in anticipation of her arriving, I set to trying to be ready to extend a proper welcome and gracious hosting. I whipped up some southwestern dip and made sausage balls and cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies. It has long been a tradition that when out-of-state family flies into RDU, we greet them with sausage balls as a snack at the end of their trip.