Pre Christmas Musings

 

"Are you the eldest daughter of an immigrant household or are you normal?"

The above sentence jumped out at me when I read a book review in our local paper. (It is the introductory sentence of Teresa Wong's graphic memoir: All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey).

I happen to be that person! That eldest daughter who went through all the trauma experienced by my family as they relocated multiple times to finally settle in Canada. I have six younger siblings and an older brother. Times were tough, but we got through it!

 My sister, who is two years younger than me, was the more practical one. I was the dreamer with the imagination. Together we somehow managed to keep our siblings in line. It was not an easy task, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I began school in our little village in Paraguay. My sister had to manage the younger ones on her own for that year! They still love us, and now do their share in helping us in our senior years. You can ask them if they consider me normal!

I do not recall that our family ever went hungry. My grandmother told me that when we were refugees staying in the barn on a farm in South Germany, there was a small shelf with a curtain in front of it, in which we kept the food supplies that the farm family provided for us. Apparently  I, as a four-year-old, would sneak behind that curtain and gouge my little fingers into the butter. My feet stuck out underneath the curtain, and my grandmother would swoop me up and catch me with my buttery fingers, which we then licked together!

Another butter memory I have is my mother filling a large jar with cream and then I sat and rolled it back and forth on my lap until the cream separated from the whey and magically turned into butter! 

I still love butter! It reminds me of my husband, Hardy, who loved it too and always made sure to stock our freezer when it was on sale. Recently there has been a lot of food thievery in our local grocery stores. Apparently one thief left with hundreds of pounds of butter according to a recent article in the daily newspaper. The writer of the article wondered what on earth someone would do with so much butter! Hmmm--- use it lavishly on your Zwieback!

In her book, Eating Like a Mennonite, Marlene Epp "reveals food as a complex ingredient in ethnic, religious, and personal identities, with the ability to create both bonds and boundaries between people.." 

At this time of year, in December, we remember all the traditions that became dear to us as children and a lot of them evolve around food and special dishes. I  have baked my annual fruit cakes, some of which I gift to people who love it. There will be more baking in the days ahead!

My Christmas tree is up and decorated, thanks to grandson Ivan's and daughter Heidi's help in setting it up.

 

My daughters and I attended a special lighting ceremony with a donation to Cancer Care in remembrance of those who have died from this disease. We stood in the cold with hundreds of others. Our hearts were warmed as the lights went on and we saw the names of our loved ones.

Hardy's Christmas tree

MERRY CHRISTMAS,  EVERYONE!