Oct. 1, 2002 (23 years ago), I wrote my first column. I thought it would be interesting to repeat it for all the new and old readers.

My mother penned the Amish Cook column for 11 years. I was a teenager at home when she started writing. After her sudden death on Sept. 17, 2002, I started writing.

In 2014, the name was changed to Lovina’s Amish Kitchen. I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me to keep writing. It’s not always easy to find time. It was even more of a challenge when my children were young. Looking at the ages they all were when I wrote the first column, it’s hard to believe this much time has gone by.

At the time, we had six children, ages 2 months to 8 years old. I was 31, and now our oldest is that age. I write all my columns in one-subject notebooks and have used well over 30 tablets. Rest in peace, dear mother! You were not only my mother but my best friend. And now here is the column I wrote on Oct. 1, 2002.

I am nervous and not sure how to begin this letter. It is very difficult for me to take over this column. I will never be able to write like my mother did, but I will try my best. Mother is resting in peace now, but oh, how we miss her! Life will never be the same without my parents. In less than two-and-a-half years, we lost them both. I often think of what Mom would always say, “God makes no mistakes.” We must go on with life and accept the changes that God sends to us. I will always cherish the good memories of my parents. I hope my husband Joe and I can raise our children the way they raised us.

My sisters Verena and Susan came home with us the day after Mom’s funeral and spent one-and-a-half weeks here. It was nice to be together during this sad time. The home place seems so lonely now.

Church services were held here last Sunday, and we’ll have them here again next time, the week after next. Mom was greatly missed at the services Sunday. Mom always made the coffee for us girls whenever we had church at our house.

I am 31 years old and am the sixth of eight children. Joe and I were married on July 15, 1993, and we have six children. Elizabeth is 8 and in second grade. Susan is 6 and in kindergarten. Verena is 4 and my little babysitter when the other two are in school. Benjamin is 3 years old, Loretta is 2, and baby Joseph is 2 months old. Benjamin and Loretta keep me on the go. They are so full of energy, but I am so thankful they are healthy.

My husband Joe has worked in a furniture factory in town for six years. I keep busy just tending to the little ones and trying to keep up with the cleaning, cooking, ironing, laundry, and all that goes with raising a family. There is a lot of work, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

My sister Liz and her husband Levi have church services at their house this coming Sunday. My sisters Verena, Susan, Emma and I, and all of our children, spent the day there helping prepare for church. A huge laundry was done (including her curtains). Windows were cleaned, and pumpkins, which she raised in her garden, were canned. It was comforting to all be together and talk about the many good memories we have of our parents. That’s all we have left now.

I hope you enjoyed reading my first column. God Bless!

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Garden Macaroni Salad

1 16-ounce package macaroni

2 cucumbers, peeled and diced

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, finely diced

4 stalks celery, diced

3 cups of fresh garden peas or 1 15-ounce can peas, drained

1 cup mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until tender, rinse under cold water and drain. In a large bowl, combine pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, celery, peas and mayonnaise. Mix well until all vegetables are coated lightly with mayonnaise. Chill and serve.

• Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, “The Cherished Table,” “The Essential Amish Cookbook” and “Amish Family Recipes,” are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, P.O. Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply), or email questionsforlovina@gmail.com and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.