Family HeirloomsToday I had to myself, the day before Christmas Eve and it was SO good. Sometimes I need a day spent alone, doing my own thing, when I want, how I want. I enjoyed our Christmas tree we cut from our property, lit with white lights and all sparkle, we topped a tree actually. It's decorated with years of collected ornaments and many from my Mom's own collection. Below the Christmas tree is a small village of sparkle paper houses, something given to me by my Mother who loved Christmas and the celebrations and traditions of this time of year.
I decided today that I would spend my time making Pirogies, a traditional Polish dumpling stuffed in this case with potato and cheese. However my twist is that I made them gluten free and dairy free. I put on the apron I gave my Mother when I was in second grade and broke out the rolling pin handed down to me that belonged to my Great Grandmother, who brought it from Poland I believe, this rolling pin has to be at least 80 years old. I love it's green handles and I cherish it. I put on some Christmas music via Pandora and reconnected with the women of my family and all the times they performed the same ritual of making the holiday pirogies and it felt awesome. I smiled as I thought of my Mother and how happy it would make her to know I was carrying on, the task of rolling out the dough and cutting a circle with a jelly jar, filling and pinching it closed, time after time grounded me deeply. I believe we all need these rituals that connect us with who we are, where we came from and those that came before us, honoring the memories and lessons taught. There will be more traditions and moments of connection over this holiday, those taught and those created. I hope you have these things to bind you to your own history, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice and Happy Holidays!
2 comments:
Nice post Carey
:-)
I have an older mentor... Robbie Robertson...he's 85 now. We have been friends for about 6 years now and it has been very easy to be his friend since our first encounter. He was born in the slums of Edinburgh to a coal mining father and an Calvinist mother. Robbie's memory is amazing. He tells me vivid stories of things that happened 75 years ago! Robbie has adhered to Buddhist tenets since before WWII when they made him a hard hat diver because he would not use a gun.
Today at lunch we were talking about almost exactly what you have described in this post!
When I dropped him off after lunch he looked me in the eye and told me that he is the sum of everything and everyone he has experienced in his life.
I had tears in my eye on the way back to work....and a feeling of responsibility to a much larger purpose than what I feel to be my simple self....
Buzz
Thanks for sharing Buzz, what your friend says seems to be so true and as I've gotten older my need for connections especially with family has gotten stronger.
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