My Vitamix is a part of my family. It has been with me since the birth of my first child more than 55 years ago, through the death of my husband, nearly 8 years ago.

When my kids were little, one of our favorite foods was potato pancakes. My Vitamix not only make the best potato pancakes, but it also make the best applesauce from apples that my children would pick from our backyard tree.

As they grew older, they loved to make Vitamix ice cream. We lived in the country and it wasn’t easy to run to town to buy ice cream, so it was a real hit!

Our Vitamix was there through every step of our lives. From making punch at our children’s graduation parties and weddings, to making scrambled eggs for 30 wedding guests who were stranded at our home due to an ice storm, the Vitamix has always been dependable.

As the years went by and the children were grown, my husband and I moved from Iowa to Colorado and then to Arizona. My husband became ill and was in the hospital 19 times before he died. We make lots of soft food, malts, eggnog, and anything that would easily provide nutrition for him.

Recently I put Vitamix to use inventing new recipes using desert plants and then co-authoring books about my creations. Vitamix and I even won first place at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival for one of those recipes!

Through the changes over the years, as my children have grown and my family has increased in size, the Vitamix can still be found on my kitchen counter.

My Vitamix and I are both getting old, but my children and grandchildren believe there are many years left in each of us! I intend to live each of those years to the fullest; with a little help from my Vitamix.