Grammy Knows Poem

This is a poem that I wrote to my Grandma Pat Walker who is dearly called Grammy. I wrote if for her 50th Wedding Annivesary this month. Hope you enjoy it as much as she did.
—Candice

Grammy Knows
by Candice Davis

“Grammy Knows…”
She says to me.
Brown eyes determined.
Brow crinkling up with aging wisdom.
Warm full lips smile
A heart filled with Love, Laughter, Life.

“Grammy Knows”
I ponder it.
Knows the love of one man for 50 years.
Knows that burnt first suppers turn into
Finger smacking-fried chicken
And pots of shrimp fried rice.

“Grammy Knows”
I ponder it.
Knows the joy that labor brings.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…no 7 beautiful beings
On wings of love sent from above.
Knows the tears.
The fears
The prayers
The cheers
When all is said and grown.

“Grammy Knows”
I ponder it.
Knows holding loved one’s hand till the end.
Knows Popsicles make stitches remove easier.
Knows band-aids and bicycles are mother’s Best friends.
Knows when to let go
And when to let God.

“Grammy Knows”
I ponder it.
Knows that love comes in all
Shapes.
Sizes.
Colors.
Races.
Religions.
Whether you be
A plant.
A dog.
A husband.
A child
A adopted great-grandson
A daughter-in-law
A creature of this Earth.

GRAMMY KNOWS…LOVE.

“Grammy Knows…”
She says to me.
Brown eyes determined.
Brow crinkling up with aging wisdom.
Warm full lips smile
A heart filled with love, laughter, life.

“Grammy Knows.”
I ponder it…
That I may know it too
One day.

My Natural Nasal Decongestant

I have dealt with sinus congestion for all of my life, and I’ve tried many different ways to help, with varying success.  One thing I’ve found useful lately is based on something I learned about during the Ayurvedic cooking seminar I attended with Dr. Vasant Lad in New Mexico last year. 

my homemade decongestant

Dr. Lad prepared Chai Tea for everyone on Saturday morning and I reacted badly to the milk in it.  I was willing to try it because he spoke about the spices in it (cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg if I remember correctly) and said they reduce the mucilaginous properties of the milk.  But unfortunately it didn’t do the trick for me.  So I mentioned this during the class, and Dr. Lad took my pulses and gave me a few ginger slices with lime juice and salt on them to eat, in order to stimulate my agni (this is the name for the digestive fire in Ayurveda) and burn up some of the ama, or toxins, that were the cause of my sinus issues.

I had a hard time with the ginger slices, but the cooking class was continuing so it wasn’t really the time to address it.  Recently I discussed it with Candice and she suggested I try adding some coconut flakes to help relieve some of the shock of the strong mixture.  I tried that and now I have some every morning before breakfast, and it’s an instant relief every day for my sinuses and helps get rid of nasal drip also.  I have been using ginger paste from a jar because we have it, but I may start buying the actual ginger roots once I empty the jar.

Asthma Relief

A few years ago I purchased a book which detailed another process to help relieve nasal congestion. The focus of the book was asthma, but I was able to use the techniques (developed by a Russian doctor) to help provide much needed sinus relief for myself. I wasn’t able to find that same book recently when I looked for it, but I did find a similar one, called Dramatic Asthma Relief.

Stopping Hiccups

A couple nights ago Kayin (our 6 year old son) came down after we put the kids to bed and he had a bad case of hiccups. I remembered finding something for Demitri about 8 months ago that worked great, so I looked up hiccups in my Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing book (the one pictured to the right). Here is what I wrote back in April about our experience with Demitri:

One day last week our four-year-old son Demitri had the hiccups when we were getting everyone ready for bed. I remember reading about a recommendation for hiccups in my ayurvedic-cooking book, so I decided to give it a try. Here is the recommendation:

“To stop hiccoughs, eat 2 chopped bananas mixed with 1 teaspoon of ghee, ½ teaspoon of honey and 2 pinches of ginger powder.”
-Ayurvedic Cooking for Self Healing by Usha Lad and Dr. Vasant Lad, page 189

I already had half a banana left from one of my children on the counter so I put it in a little bowl, cut it up with a butter knife and fork, used a spoon to put in a little bit of ghee, used the knife to add a little bit of honey (the honey we use has never been heated so it is semi-solid), and added one shake of ginger powder. Then I mixed everything up and gave a spoonful to my son. Although it tasted sweet to me he was in a sad mood and said he didn’t like it, but after one bite he didn’t have any more hiccups! He hasn’t had any hiccups since then, but I won’t forget this remedy – it brought us great relief, since hiccups at bedtime can keep everyone up late.

This time I didn’t have any leftover bananas and Kayin said he was hungry so I used one whole banana, broke it into pieces, then added half a spoonful of ghee, half a spoonful of honey, and a few shakes of ginger powder. After mixing it up I gave it to Kayin. He liked it and dug in, but halfway through he stopped and said he was done eating and done with hiccups, and proceeded to go lay down and go to sleep. I got to eat the rest, it was Yummy!