The tastes and aromas of my childhood hold a special corner of my memories but what I miss the most are mom and dad, us 5 kids and both sets of grandparents getting together after church for a big Sunday supper. I helped mom cook so I’ve absorbed her menus and can prepare most of what mom made and replicate it well. I do the cooking for my family so I’ve had many years of practice and mistakes.
Mom was the organist and choir director at a couple of churches so Sunday’s were busy but somehow (my mom like a lot of moms was a superhero and was relentless in her care of her family) she was able to still prepare a giant supper after church. In the later years mom worked at 3 churches on Sunday so my grandma and I would make supper so mom didn’t have to. I miss the childlike simplicity with which I viewed the world. It was the love of family that made the food taste so good. My wife and I took over the cooking for mom about 15 years ago so I had the privilege of cooking for and serving mom for a number of years. Mom loved the idea that her oldest son and the only outdoorsman in the family cared enough to learn how to cook. I was the oldest as well as a black sheep since I marched to my own beat and lived life on my terms. Dad wanted me to be a cop but I wanted to be a firefighter, I initially gave in to make dad happy but I hated it and told dad there’s no way I’m going to spend a career with those types of people and went back to being a firefighter, a career I loved!
I miss the family that’s passed away and look forward to a grand reunion someday.
