Hot Chocolate Bar – Southern Ivy Emporium

Our tradition to honor my mother

My mother passed away two days after Christmas. The last act of kindness I gave her was making her a cup of hot chocolate before bed. Ever since, Hot Chocolate has held a special meaning in my family’s Christmas traditions. For seven years, I’ve set up a Hot Chocolate Bar, starting with her Marcrest Cookie Jar, which had a broken lid. Growing up during the Depression, she lived by the motto, “Make it, make it do, or do without.” Hence, a cookie jar kept on the top of the refrigerator with the glued lid. (I never asked which one of her 3 children broke it.)

Making her simple home was her passion, she was an artist; my dad was a carpenter.That love for her home was passed down to me and I had the redecorating gene long before HGTV ever existed. She lived simply, but always sought to make her surroundings beautiful with natural and handmade items. On our last day together, I noticed an old lantern in her yard and mentioned I’d like it if she ever decided to part with it—never knowing it would be mine the next day.

On Christmas Day, I had taken my mother to my sister’s house to meet her newest great-grandchildren—twin boys who were only a few weeks old. I noticed that day that her dementia had worsened, and for the first time in my life, I saw my strong, faith-filled mother show fear. Fear of being alone. My sister and I had started making plans to alternate staying with her on different nights, beginning the first week of January.

On December 27, I spent the day with her, cooked her lunch, and we spent some time in her yard preparing beds for winter and raking leaves. Before I left in the late afternoon, I helped her get ready for bed, reminded her to take her medicine, and settled her on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate.

Later, about an hour after I left, I called her to tell her I was home and to say “I love you. And get a good night’s sleep.” I reminded her that my brother was coming the next morning to take her out to breakfast.

Then, at about 10 a.m. the following day, my brother called me. He asked if I had taken her anywhere, as he couldn’t get her on the phone or to answer the door. Concerned, he called my sister, who had a key to her house. She left work and came over to meet my brother to check on her. Upon entering, they found my mother lying on the kitchen floor with spilled hot chocolate around her. According to the coroner’s estimate, she passed away around 10 p.m. the night before, just hours after I left her.

The last day we were together, she talked about what it would be like to just go to sleep and wake up in heaven, and that’s exactly what happened! We fully believe that God rewarded her for her faithful Christian service by taking her home to Heaven quickly.

She was such a vibrant, creative, intelligent woman, full of love for Jesus and all mankind, and a servant to anyone in need. She taught me so much about contentment in life, but also the need to challenge ourselves to continue growing and learning and to live intentionally according to HIS Purpose throughout life accepting any challenge to add “extra” to our ordinary lives.

My collection began with my mother’s Warm Colorado Brown cookie jar with a cracked lid, her only piece. I inherited the cookie jar with a broken lid and began my treasure hunting for a Marcrest cookie jar with a “good” lid. After I found that piece, I continued to collect pieces, mostly from Antique Alley at Canton, TX. As my collection grew, it became the foundation for my annual chocolate bar that was available to chase away the sporadic Louisiana chill from November through January. Anyone who has lived in Louisiana knows it might be 30 degrees one day and then 70 the next, so here we need hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate.