I remember my Grandma’s kitchen. It was small and warm, always full of wonderful aromas. One of the centerpieces was a gleaming VitaMix that my Grandpa had bought for her in the 1940s. I suppose it was only natural that one of the first purchases my husband and I made after our wedding in 1979 was a shiny, new stainless steel VitaMix. After all, we were just carrying on an old family tradition.

That VitaMix served us well for 30 years. It made smoothies, soups, ice creams, and so much more that we enjoyed through our first 15 years together. Then, in 1994, when our first son was born, the VitaMix served us as a baby food maker, as it did again four years later with our second son.

Living a full and busy life on a ranch with a cowboy preacher and raising two sons, I found many unique and innovative uses for the VitaMix, but eventually its age began to show, and it was used less and less. In September 2009, on our 30th anniversary, we treated ourselves to a brand new VitaMix 5200. Once again we rediscovered the joys of fresh juices and smoothies.

On the morning of April 26, 2010, the phone rang at my office in town. My youngest son’s voice crackled over a very poor cell phone connection. “Mon, Dad’s been kicked in the face by a horse. It’s really bad. The ambulance is coming. I’ve got to go.” With those words, our lives were changed in an instant.

Our sons are home-schooled. The younger one happened to see the accident. He yelled at his older brother and between them, they drove the truck out to the pasture where the accident had occurred, got their father loaded into the back of the truck, drove him to the road, and summoned rescue.

My husband was flown by life flight from our ranch in Beggs, Oklahoma, to Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa. The next few days were literally a blur, but the one thing I remember through it all was the sustaining joy we found in God’s provision and in our family and friends who stood with us throughout the ordeal.

The surgery to reconstruct his face included wiring his jaw closed for six very long weeks. Did I mention God’s amazing provision? The new VitaMix that we purchased only months earlier became a lifesaving fixture in our kitchen! Everything had to be pureed to a fine consistency so that it could be fed through a straw and strained through his teeth. The first few days consisted of the standard fruit smoothies fortified with yogurt, and soups pureed to mere broth.

But it wasn’t long before he was craving other foods. Did you know that you could use a VitaMix to make ravioli into a liquid? Pureed Pizza Rolls make a great alternative to a standard soup. He even managed to have a grilled burger with all the trimmings after it was fed to the Vitamix first. Believe it or not, he didn’t lose a bit of weight, even though we were told to expect severe weight loss. And that was a very good thing, as he didn’t have any spare weight to lose!

For six long weeks every meal and snack was courtesy of the VitaMix. Since the accident, our lives have slowly returned to a relatively normal pace. The boys continue their home schooling, my husband is back at work preaching, singing, working with the horses, and managing the ranch. I’m back at the office and not dreading every phone call.

Our family is very grateful for our VitaMix!