Thursday, November 26, 2009

My dearest God,

Why is it that food served in families for generations is so important to share at family gatherings? I am not sure I would be allowed to attend a family holiday event if I didn't make spaghetti and cheese. This year I had to make two huge pans for 15 people.

For some reason, dear God, I believe making my grandmother's spaghetti and cheese which may have even be made by her mother or grandmother, brings her back to life for me. I remember her hands, those brown age spots, hands she used to stir the lemon filling for her famous lemon meringue pie, hands that played the piano while we grandchildren sang away, hands that came together when she prayed on her knees, hands that planted the truck patch and harvested the vegetables she gave away to others, hands that stitched quilts that we now have on our beds, hands that embraced us in loving hugs.

O God, I believe every time I prepare those old time down-on-the-farm recipes my family used to make, you fill my home with all my relatives who have passed from this life to the next. I feel their essence, the love they shared, their smiles and laughter, their hugs, memories that linger year after year.

And what does all that do for me? It ultimately ushers me to your side in gratitude.

Holy God,
Ever-Living Spirit,
my heart warms,
my soul rejoices,
my eyes tear
when I reflect
upon your many
gracious gifts.
You keep alive
good memories
of the past.
You connect
the past
with the present
and my
guess is
that you are
even now
connecting this present
with the future.
How lovely
to gaze
into the future
with such gratitude.

You will always have my love, Andrea