Legend of a Legacy

The Legacy, Elsie Hege

Working the dough, like she's been doing it forever.

I may have previously coined that title for a Christmas present, but it couldn't be more fitting as a blog title. You might have seen an Instagram/Facebook photo last week promising a blog update "very soon"....well, "very soon" is finally here. Last week, we had a snow make-up day that we actually got to take advantage of. I have been asking my Grandma Hege to teach me how to make her famous (i'm not exaggerating here) egg noodles for a couple of years. We always talked about doing it in the summer and just never got around to it. I am so grateful that we finally made it happen! In order to truly convey how wonderful this was, let me give you a little bit of history

Mom getting schooled on the art of noodle rolling!

My Grandma Hege has always been invincible. She has worked harder than most people her age for her entire life. She married at 18, had 3 babies, sent a son off to war, lost her husband at 40, ran the town license branch, then worked at the county court house in voter registration until she "retired" a few years ago. She will celebrate her 85th birthday next month and just recently had a few health set backs. This fall, she passed out at Walgreens. Somehow, she convinced the staff to let her call her (older!) sister to come pick her up instead of the ambulance. After heading to a heart doctor, she was instructed to wear a heart monitor for 30 days to track her heart activity and told to push the button when she felt symptoms of passing out. During this time, she was not allowed to drive or stay alone so she stayed with her 92 year old sister. She never pushed the button so her doctor didn't find anything "wrong". She is still not allowed to drive and not supposed to stay alone. You try telling a woman who has been living alone for 45 years that she can't stay at her house. We compromised by making her promise she would wear a life alert necklace, but she still can't drive. This has really taken the life out of the Grandma that I have always known to be invincible. She doesn't think she can do anything anymore without the fear of having another "episode". 

When we made noodles last Monday, I saw her come alive. She would say "I'm not sure if I remember how to do this" and then her body would take over and it became mindless. She KNEW what she was doing and I caught a glimpse of my invincible Grandma. We had planned to get started making noodles after Graham went down for a nap, but he really didn't want to miss out on the action. It was beautiful to watch her interact with him and include him in the process. He even surprised us by showing that he could indeed crack an egg, straight on to the table. 

Giving him his own dough to work

I can't quite put in to words what it meant to me to get the chance to make noodles with my Grandma and my mom. She told me she used to wake up at 3:30 am to get a batch of noodles started before she went to work so they would be dried and ready to bag that night. She sold them for $3/bag and always gave more than she sold. I can remember her house being covered in flour while the noodles dried for most of my visits. She's always been such a hard worker. 

Finished Product!

When I called her to tell her that we had gotten 5 bags of noodles out of what we made that day, she was so pleased. I told her I had thought about whipping up a batch this week so I could increase my stash and start to give some to family, but I didn't have enough time. She said, "I think it would work good if I mixed the noodles and you rolled them." Two months ago, she would have told me that she just couldn't do it any more. Now, she wants to help and knows she can. I saw her come alive and I can't wait to do it again.