Pryor Scrapbook Bessie Mae, 2008

' those sequin ball ornaments... Somehow I got coerced into helping with those projects all those years. But there was payoff for that! I always got to go EARLY to the sale and see what I wanted to buy before everyone else! One of the best gifts I learned from you is your ability to put on a dinner party. To prep.are in advance all one could, to time each dish so that it is piping hot at the same time, to prepare just the right combination of foods that go well together (by colors of course), and to pull this off so that it appears effortless and you sit down with your guests and enjoy your meal as well, looking calm and collected, but with the ready eye for a glass that needs refilling or offering someone more hot rolls! Before "Martha Stewart" there was BESSIE MAE! I ' ll close with this memory. Either my freshman or sophomore year at Harding, I decided to be a part of the entertainment at our Regina Banquet, because I wanted to sing something to you and Daddy. It was a Carpenter' s song entitled "Sometime." I know I did an awful job (I'm not a soloist!)-none ofmy friends commented anything afterward! BUT you were proud of me. The sentiments of that song remain true to this day. "Sometimes, not often enough We reflect upon the good things And those thoughts always center Around those we love And I think about those people Who mean so much to me And for so many years have made me So very happy And I count the times I have forgotten to say Thank you, and just how much I love them" (By Felice & Henry Mancini) I can't every say ' 'thank you" enough. What a blessing it was for me, an unwanted and unplanned child, to end up in your arms as a 23 day old infant (it would have been 3 except for the fact you woke up with the mumps that morning!) What a great life I've had as a "Pryor," sitting at the feet of two Harding icons, Dr. Joe and Queen Bessie Mae! Thank you Jesus! And thank you Mommy. I love you! Happy 85th birthday. Susan Pryor Hodges