"We only did it once, I remember that," Lynn said.
Lorene Keener died Jan. 21 at the age of 84. Except for several hospital stays in recent weeks, she lived in the Maugansville Road home where she and her husband raised their children.
Those four children still were reeling from the death of their father, Adriel John Keener, on Nov. 16, 2004, when their mother's health began to fail just before Christmas.
"She pepped up a little after Christmas, but then she had a couple of heart attacks," Paul Keener said.
Lorene rallied in early January, going out to dinner with family on Jan. 7 and then to church on Jan. 9, followed by a trip to Boonsboro for ice cream, Paul said.
That final outing, as it turned out, triggered a memory for David Keener of similar excursions the family would take after church when he and his siblings were young.
"I'll always remember those little trips looking for mushrooms and pop bottles," David said. The Keener kids then would turn the bottles in for the deposit.
On Jan. 14, Lorene was admitted to Washington County Hospital and passed away a week later.
"Dr. Jeffrey Hurwitz, Dr. Pamela Bradford and all the nurses on 3E at the hospital were wonderful with mother, as were the hospice volunteers," Paul Keener said.
Adrena Sheppard, the Keeners' oldest child and only daughter, said her mother was one of the kindest people she ever knew.
"Mom was always thanking people and touching them on the arm when she did," Adrena said. "It was just her nature."
The porch at the Keener home was a very busy place when the weather was good, Adrena said.
"Mom and dad would sit out there and wave to people driving or walking by," she said. "People would often stop and visit for a while."
Paul Keener said his mother made their clothes, a source of pride for her children in the era when they were growing up.
"I always looked forward to getting the silk shirt hand-me-downs," Lynn Keener said. He also recalled that when he had a newspaper route as a boy, his mother would insist on driving him on his route when the weather was bad.
Adrena helped out in the kitchen when the big Sunday meal of fried chicken was prepared.
"When I was in the kitchen with her, mom was teaching me about cooking," Adrena said.
In addition to cooking and sewing, Lorene also was proficient at quilting, embroidery and gardening.
Through the years, the fruits of Lorene's labors not only were enjoyed at home, but also in the community. Even at an early age as a girl living along Cearfoss Pike, Lorene would gather eggs for her parents' stand at Hagerstown City Market, Adrena said.
"She would do sewing for friends - hems, slipcovers, whatever they needed," Adrena said. The family home is filled with examples of her handiwork, some fairly new while others date back many years.
Lorene often was called upon to judge clothing, flowers and other household skills in a variety of fairs. She diligently kept daybooks in her crisp, neat handwriting about her experiences judging at Ag Expo, the Frederick Fair and Clear Spring's Future Farmers of America events.
Married in the parsonage of First Baptist Church in Hagerstown, the Keeners were active there until they became charter members of Paramount Baptist Church.
None of the Keener children ever remember their mother sitting idly at home doing nothing. Even in her later years, Lorene and her husband did a lot of traveling in the United States and Canada.
When the Keeners weren't on a trip, they were visiting friends and fellow church members who were ailing or in nursing homes.
"She kept a list of those visits, too, in her daybooks," Adrena said. "And those lists were long."
