2002-12-08 - 9:09 a.m.
TRADITION CONTINUES
Before Chanukah ended last night, yet another tradition was fulfilled. My next sister down called and asked for my latke recipe. (Latkes are potato pancakes. Because they are made with large quantities of oil, they are a traditional food that is supposed to remind us that the oil in the eternal lamp burned for eight days when it should only have burned for one.) It�s not that my latke recipe is soooooo delicious. It�s desireable because it is relatively efficient way of making a lot of latkes at one time. And she got the latke recipe�but I didn�t give it to her.
Yesterday, Mr. Philately went off for a large part of the day and left the girls in charge of themselves. Luckily for my sister, Day-Hay is competent in the kitchen and notices things. When the emergency call for the latke recipe came in, my sister was not out of luck simply because I was not there. Day-Hay suspected she knew where it was and Day-Hay found it. She then arranged for Kat to e-mail it (because Day-Hay had to run off to play practice.) As a team, the girls were able to fulfill the all-important holiday function of giving out the latke recipe. Even in my absence, the tradition continued.
I was particularly impressed with Day-Hay. Despite our absence from before she awoke until well into the afternoon, she got up and did what needed to be done. She got breakfast. She cleaned herself up. She got her contacts in. She got organized. She made arrangements to walk with a friend up to the school for practice and she kept track of time well enough that she arrived on time. I�m glad. If something were to happen to me, I want to know that I would be missed but, more than that, I want to know that life would go on. Day-Hay can carry life on without me.
Kat didn�t do too bad a job. Not all her homework got done but her homework got started. She forgot her medication (which does not particularly please me) but she got dressed, cleaned up, and didn�t do anything untoward. She did, after all, e-mail that recipe when Day-Hay lacked the time. If she didn�t exactly know where to find the recipe, well, I don�t really expect she would know where cooking things are. This summer, I�ll have to embark on a campaign to be sure she can feed herself but Kat�s never been interested in learning such things spontaneously.
So, despite my absence, my sister�s family got to eat latkes for Chanukah. Tradition continues, even when I�m gone�and that�s a nice feeling.
LAST YEAR: Burning Witches
LAST FIVE ENTRIES:
Wearing Suits Proudly
Priorities
Along for the Ride
Junkyard
Slip Sliding Away
previous - next
|
Copyright 2006 by Ellen |
