Tey had a garden and some chickens, a cow, she did some canning, developed a love of pickles, and, of course, the cooking continued. But it is with Richard Jr., and Thomas that Miss Caroline’s legacy truly begins to emerge. The family had just moved into a rented
house and the two boys were looking for something to fill the hours. They asked their mother for some suggestions. “I said, did you ever have a playhouse?
‘No, we never had a playhouse! What’s a playhouse?’ I said, well come on and I’ll show you. Well, we went out to the back- yard and we built a playhouse and we were in there every day. We cooked in the yard when my husband came home from work. He said he could see the smoke pluming up through the pine trees, and we were back there cooking. We’d have lunch and we’d eat in the playhouse. We had the best time. Oh, lord. Everybody’s children in the community – everybody’s children wanted to come. I had all of them. Those kids were my life. I devoted my life to those children. And we had a wonderful life.” “For a long time, I’ve wanted to make a cookbook. And I kept talking about it and
talking about it. And one of my friends down here said, ‘Why don’t you do it?” And I said, ‘Because I have to have help.’ She said, ‘I’ll help you.’ So, she typed and helped me get it together.” Writing a book is a difficult endeavor at
any age. Miss Caroline’s cookbook, Born To Cook: A Collection of Recipes was written when she was 103 years young. It is, of course, dedicated to her mother, and contains many recipes they per- fected together in her childhood kitchen in Columbus. From appetizers to entrees, cakes and pies to jellies and jams, readers have found familiar takes on family favor- ites and new plates to add to dinner rota- tion. “They’re my favorite recipes that I’ve saved through the years. I’m happy to be able to share them.” This July 28, a sheriff ’s car will pull
up outside Miss Caroline’s home in Fort Mitchell. He will walk her to his car and gingerly help her inside. They will then fall in line behind a fire truck escort and head to the community center. Tere, she will enter the room to the applause and fanfare of a true celebrity; someone famous not solely because of who they are, but because
of what they have done. Every year her birthday gets a little bigger. Each party, new faces appear in the crowd. “A couple years back, it must have been
my 101st, I saw this young man staring at me. He asked if he could come talk to me, and I didn’t know him, but I said okay. So, he comes over and it turns out he was a Wounded Warrior, and he had just got- ten back from overseas. He was just there with a friend and said that I reminded him of his grandmother, and would I mind if he came to visit me sometime. I said, of course!” Te soldier did end up visiting her. Sev-
eral times. Tis writer plans to visit her again. Because there is, indeed, something comfortingly grandmotherly about spend- ing time with Miss Caroline. If you crave history, and facts, figures,
and form are foremost in mind, go to one of Columbus’ world-class museums. If you want to experience living history
and hear one of sweetest peals of laughter your ears will ever capture, a certain some- one has a birthday coming up. And there is no admission fee, though there very well may be cake. C
Can be found at: Barnes and Noble Books-a-Million
Cols. Convention & Visitors Bureau Columbus Museum Cotton Blossom Dinglewood Pharmacy Doctors Hospital Gift Shop Galleria
Hughston Orthopedic Hospital Gift Shop Judy Bug Books Lewis Jones Marriott
Medical Center Gift Shop Pierce Crossing Convenience Store Piggly Wiggly
River Road Pharmacy
Soldier Store/National Infantry Museum Times News Stand
26 Columbus and the Valley JUNE 2013
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