Easter Breakfast

Easter breakfast for my husband's family--siblings who are in town and any of their children present--was in our house today.  My husband has 6 siblings alive, 5  of whom live in this town.  So any family event turns into a party.  Today there were 14 of us for breakfast.  Since Lent is observed by many--meat and fish is given up for Lent.  Some give up eggs and/or sweets, and drinkers usually give up alcohol.  So everybody is waiting to eat meat for breakfast.  A must is our rice bread--appams--and a chicken stew made with coconut milk etc. and a sort of devilled egg dish.  Without those two items, it would not be Easter.  The rest is up to the hostess!  So I decided to make a mix of bacon, sausage, chicken livers and baby potatoes.  It was a big hit.  I came across a very interesting cake--a rum-cola cake, with cocoa added.  So I made that too as there were no young children this time, the youngest being 17.  The cake is soaked in a rum & cola syrup.  Very boozy.  At the end of breakfast everyone was in a state of torpor with food and the unbearable heat and humidity at this time of the year.  I am still a little groggy I think.
Happy Easter to all.

It is early morning Thursday.  The church is packed for the Thursday Mass commemorating Jesus' Passover feast.  I stand at the back.  Slowly I slip away to the side wings, which have been erected to hold the spillover.  The grass there is cool and damp under my feet.  I can see a patch of sky.  It is yet dark blue.  A stained glass picture of the Madonna and Child shine from the lights in the church.
As I look up, between prayers, I see the sky turn a lighter blue.  Day is breaking.  The sky is now tinged with pink.  A flock of small birds fly out from behind the church spire--black silhouettes against the rose-tinted sky.  The Madonna shines serenely.  All around me disappear.  I am alone with my Maker.

I am linking to this article which a niece of ours wrote in connection with my son's first death anniversary

My son's first death anniversary came and went.  We, belonging to the Orthodox Eastern Church tradition, pray for the dead, as Catholics do.  So Mass and prayers at the grave are very important, all of which were done.  Our extended family were there.  I was touched that people called remembering him.

My daughter had brought with her a sky lantern, which she wanted to send up in memory of her brother.  That was done yesterday and it was a beautiful sight.  As it was a very clear night, we were able to watch it flying really high and far, till the light in it finally went out.

It is almost a year since my eldest left us and it is still so hard to think that it is for ever, that never, in the present physical form anyway, will I ever see him again.  There are days when all I want to do is the hug the kids I have left, close oh so close.

This brilliant piece of writing, that seems to have gone viral online, so resonated, because that was a question my son, with all his various illnesses, that he always had.  In fact, the Christmas before he passed on, he told us, and especially his doctor uncle, 'I want to know how long I have left to live, so write me up all the possible medical tests I can do'....  Ah, who would have thought it was just over a month that he had left.  And then again, who knows how much time any of us have left.

Two months over!

We (my husband and I) came here, to Chicagoland, on November 13th and we return home on January 13th--exactly 2 months.  When planning this trip, two months seemed a long enough time to spend with our son and family.  But today, when the time is almost up, it just doesn't seem enough.  But then again, we have to return to our own home and there are grandchildren waiting back in India too.

The thought that upsets me most though, is the thought that I won't be seeing my son again for another year.  All of us parents who have their children in far away places have to bear with that I know.  At least nowadays technology allows us to stay in touch with our children, unlike say, when my brothers came to the US.  Then there was just the phone and that too the Trunk Call, which, for all the trouble it was, was only used for emergencies.  Letters and photographs were all there were.  So we have a great deal to be grateful for now.

Now it is back to work and readjusting to the heat at home :-).  I can't really say back to the grind though.  I think I quite enjoy what I do and anyway, there is just over 2 months left before the long summer vacation begins.  Actually what I dread most about returning home is the many social functions which come up and which cannot be missed.  I am not a sociable extrovert.  So it was doubly great being here and when I looked at pictures of weddings I had missed, I liked the pictures, but most of all I loved that I wasn't there.  Sounds terrible I guess, but there it is.

And so it is bye to Illinois for now.  I hope we come in summer next time, when we can do many more outdoor activities.