If home is where the heart is, then Halloween weekend there were a lot of hearts at Wofford College. It was homecoming weekend and the recently graduated Class of 2011 wanted to come home. This included David IV who didn't think he would be able to fly in for homecoming. He had to work late on Friday night and early on Monday morning and then there was the cost of booking a flight at the last minute.
The Mom in me couldn't stand for him to miss his first homecoming (or miss seeing him myself), so I was thinking I would just bite the bullet and see if there was ANY way to get him home. I started using every search engine I could find to get flights that worked for both his time schedule and homecoming activities. I did find one flight in and one flight out that could work, but since it was late in the game, the prices were pretty scary.
And then - lo and behold - the miracle of using airline miles for a free flight became a reality. Not being very frequent flyers until recently, I have to admit I had never used airline miles for flights and I was pretty darn surprised when it worked like they said it would.
As I talked with the nice lady on the phone about a possible round trip flight for David, I explained that there was a fairly short window of time for him and we needed non stop flights at specific times from a specific airport. I could hear her computer keyboard clacking away and in a few minutes she said, "Okay he can have those flights and with your air miles there will be no charge".
Like they say in Lattimore I almost dropped my teeth. "Seriously? Not even a $50 charge? or anything?" The nice lady laughed and said, "Yes. Did you not think it really worked?" Well. No. And I was beside myself with joy to know that it really doesn't pay to be cynical about everything.
So we threw together a small, quick and easy tailgate of homemade pimiento cheese sandwiches, cream cheese and olives, Bojangles fried chicken and lemon bars. And it wouldn't have been a tailgate without cheese wafers and bloody mary's. So I guess it wasn't that quick but it was small and easy.
We arrived at Lot E and pretty soon were joined by David, KC and Emily. These three had converged from Texas, Georgia and New York to spend homecoming with a lot of others who had converged from all over the place. The Class of 2011 is just beginning to learn what jobs, time constraints and responsibilities in the real world mean. The effort that it took for these Wofford college friends to be together for homecoming was real. And so was the happiness on their faces.
The game started and more friends reunited and it was even more fun because the Terriers gave Elon a sound methodical drubbing. It was fun to watch Mitch, Brad, Nate, Eric, Brenton, and so many others still in uniform come out with a great win and then come out for another reunion at the post game tailgate.
We laughed hearing stories of oldtimes that were really only a year or so ago, but stories and memories are great no matter how old they are.
There were more homecoming festivites including some Halloween fun complete with a cute little devil and a sparkly winged cowboy angel.
We left the revelers to get back home and get ready for another reunion on Sunday. Jay had basketball practice and wasn't able to be at Wofford's homecoming so we planned Sunday dinner at home with the boys. Rhett texted from the beach that he could bring some fresh shrimp to Shelby on Sunday so that helped set our menu. Rhett boiled the shrimp in beer and made up a cocktail sauce. I made Cowboy Soup, cornbread, Crumb Top Apple Pie and David grilled some pig.
Mama and Daddy surprised us with a visit and we pulled up a chair for them. It was bittersweet because while we were all enjoying being together, Daddy was experiencing the loss of his best friend.
Like they say in Lattimore, Carl had gone home. A different kind of homecoming.
Carl and Daddy were friends beginning as little boys from Lattimore and lasting over 80 years. (see February 6, 2011 blogpost) Our families have been together for camp outs, beach trips, weddings, funerals, parties, and much more over all of those years.
So Daddy pointed out to Rhett, Jay and David that while each of them had been friends basically all of their lives, they were only in their 20s. He said, "Add about 60 more years to your friendships and you will have something really special."
The value of friendship couldn't be more evident than during homecomings.
Beth Anderson's Lemon Bars
Beth Anderson worked in Shelby years ago and I don't know where she is now but she gave me this recipe. I wrote it down as Beth Anderson's Lemon Bars so I think about her anytime I make these. They are good for most any occasion including homecomings.
Grease a 9 x 13 pan. I use Pam spray.
Mix together the following. It will be fairly dry but sticky.
1 package Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1 stick of melted butter
2 eggs
Spread the mixture into the greased pan. I spray a spoon with Pam to help spread the sticky mixture out evenly in the bottom of the pan.
Mix together the following. It will be gooey.
8 ounces cream cheese (softened. If I am doing this on the fly, I nuke for 30 secs)
1 box of 10x Powdered Sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
Pour this mixture over the first layer.
Bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes. It will spring up in the middle when it's ready. Sometimes I bake at a lower heat for a little longer.
Let it cool completely before cutting.
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