“Sitten up early thinking bout
What’s up?
Sometimes you just write
Man this journey is a big one
Your will be done
That’s what’s up, Father your Will be done.” Max Rose, Memphis Tennessee college student and writer, life cut short.
Dr. Black and I are becoming our parents.
We plan doctor visits together, keep an enormous amount of clothing that we cannot wear, just in case we suddenly drop 10 pounds, and we cannot remember anyone’s name after 5 p.m.
A few weeks ago we went to Memphis so I could get most of my face frozen off because of years of sunbathing with baby oil and bars of cocoa butter.
In a few more weeks we will return to Memphis so my doctor can sear my whole face off to remove all of my previous sun damage.
While we were in Memphis we visited Elmwood Cemetery, a place I had been longing to visit because of its beautiful statues and monuments that date back to the 1850s.
My father loved old cemeteries and took me along on several of his tours.
One of my favorite monuments we photographed was a statue of a man and his hunting dog that were buried together before the Civil War.
It was very moving.
I would love nothing more than for Grits to go when I go and share the same resting place. The weeping angel monument in Friendship Cemetery in Columbus is another favorite of mine.
The statues in Elmwood are breathtaking and one cannot help wondering about these people who have been gone so very long and have a larger than life bronze angel leaning over their grave.
One particular bronze angel is very large and is draped in a cloak almost covering her face and is pressing her fingers to her lips as to be whispering “Shhhh.”
She was talking to me of course.
Most of the angels are bathed in a lovely green moss or they are broken or cracked, weathered with time.
Reading the inscriptions on some of the tombstones brought a great deal of insight into their former lives.
John Overton has an incredible monument at Elmwood and I learned a great deal about him and his family.
Overton Square and many schools, historical landmarks, and parks are named for Overton.
Regretfully, all I ever knew about Overton Square was that Silky O’Sullivans was located there and they served a potent drink in a paint can.
Honestly I do not remember much more after that but his tombstone reads that he personally was responsible for “bringing Memphis to life.”
I admire that immensely but never want to have a cocktail berthed in a paint can ever again.
As I was trying to photograph some of these beautiful monuments and statues I was able to capture a particular angel with a beam of light hitting her directly on her shoulders.
As I stepped back to take another look I tripped on some broken brick and summersaulted backward into the street.
My first thought was to look around and see if anyone saw me fall down the hill which was ridiculous since I was in a cemetery full of dead people.
I then looked for Dr. Black who was off ogling another statue, and then I saw torn pants and a bloody knee and began to cry.
Two stories immediately flooded my mind that made me feel better:
Last year, my sister was chasing a 2-year-old across the front of the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Clinton and somehow got tangled in the video cable wires.
She took a tumble down the sanctuary stairs, acquired carpet burns on both of her knees and the whole thing was captured for all time on video.
Secondly, my hip friends who were seated at an elegant outdoor music festival in Charleston were sipping on their delicious wine and listening to some outstanding symphonic tunes when they were nailed by a runaway golf cart.
Apparently a box of cables in the cart fell forward in the unmanned golf cart and landed on the gas peddle.
It then plowed into their lawn chairs and sent them both airborne. I would have paid good money to have seen that!
Thankfully no one was badly injured, but bruises and blood are enough injury and humiliation for anyone over 50.
Recovering back at Elmwood on flat ground, I was most intrigued with an immense bronze statue of an angel lifting a young man toward heaven.
The youthful son had one hand reaching toward heaven and the other hand reaching for the ground.
This monument belonged to Max Rose, a college kid who lost his life when he was only 20 years old.
Several of his writings are carved in marble stones and he was most remembered for his efforts and accomplishments in bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots in Memphis.
From what I have read about him, he actually was making a difference and was a young and vigilant philanthropist.
The older I get, the more I am paying attention to cemeteries and their meaning.
Not really for myself but for those who will come after I am gone, and by-dog they had better remember me!
My mother would say “write it down or nobody will remember!”
She is right, again.
Death by Chocolate Brownies
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2-ounce pieces
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-ounce pieces
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
4 ounces chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9 by 1 1/2-inch cake pan with 1 teaspoon of butter. Flour the pan with 1 teaspoon of flour, shaking out the excess.
Sift together 1/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt onto waxed paper. Set aside.
Heat 1-inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 4 tablespoons butter, and 2 ounces semisweet chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Heat for 4 to 5 minutes, remove from the heat, and stir until smooth.
Place 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and whisk on medium for 30 seconds. Add the sifted ingredients, whisk on low for 10 seconds, then on medium for 10 seconds. Add the sour cream and whisk on medium for 5 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to thoroughly combine. Add the chocolate chunks and stir again.
Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Bake the brownie for 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool in the pan at room temperature for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a cake circle and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the brownies from the refrigerator and cut in half horizontally. Keep the brownies at room temperature ready to serve.
