Things that connect us

Being a mom has been my happiest thing. My daughter recently asked me what if feels like to become a mom, and I said it’s like falling in love in many ways, it’s just this beautiful overwhelming love. My kids childhood was like magic, I miss those days sometimes. But then there is the beauty of now, with them growing into adults, of course there are many challenges, but I love having talks with them. They wonder about family origins, and I love sharing with them stories my mom told me.

My daughter will often text me for recipes, and we have these little chats about where the recipes have come from, and how some recipes just feel like home. How beautiful it is that a simple thing like a recipe or a song can transport our hearts home, and that we carry these threads of family with us through simple common things like a recipe.

I think the most notable recipe in my family is Chicken Slider soup, my fathers mother made it, and she taught my mom, and taught many others in our family how to make this recipe, and every time I make it it’s like I’m home. The chat with my daughter made me realize that it really is women who are the centre of these family traditions. Most of the recipes I use for Christmas are things my mom taught me, and her mom taught her, or an aunt or grandmother taught to someone a long the way. Women have perserved these recipes and now my kids enjoy them. Women in my family history have made these things as an act of love for their families , and they keep getting passed along. I don’t think we ever stop missing people we love who have died, It’s these things like a recipe for a beloved soup or cookie that remind us of home and keep loved ones alive in our hearts.

My two grandmothers, and my lovely mom ❤️