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Easter (and other holidays) memories

Monday, March 24, 2008

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We had our obligatory get-together with all our family....Saturday with a lot of my mom's side, then Sunday with my dad's side. They kinda blend in a lot of times though. When I say "my mom's side", I mean my mom's brother and wife (my uncle and aunt) , mom's dad and his wife, and then the children and grandchildren of that wife. When I say "my dad's side", I mean my dad's parents, my uncle and cousins....and usually my mom's mom. Cause see, my mom's mom and dad can't stand to be anywhere near each other...and we all welcome her in with my dad's side. Complicated? Maybe. Fun in the end for everyone? Absolutely.

That story, however, was not the reason for this post. I'm about to get emotional and mushy and probably end up crying before I'm done with this.

My Aunt Debbie always made "Pink Salad". Some of you out there might have a version of "Pink Salad" at your own family get-togethers. If not, feel free to check out the recipe below and try it out sometime. Although probably technically a dessert, we usually eat it along with the meal. No matter what the holiday/occasion/etc., you always knew there was going to be "Pink Salad". If you didn't know if there would be ham or chicken or turkey or steak or hambugers, or someone was going to make your favorite casserole, or would there be sweet tea, or will I have to waste my time trying to get that perfect amount of Sweet 'N Low in my tea.....there would always be "Pink Salad". This was something that my Aunt made without fail. So, needless to say, without her here anymore, this was going to be one of those little tiny things that you don't think about, but will affect everyone there....and probably end with tears falling when we realize that the "Pink Salad" isn't here because Aunt Debbie isn't here. So at this last Thanksgiving and Christmas (the first holidays after my Aunt died), my mom and dad made it....without anyone asking or telling them to. Saturday night, my mom asked me if I wanted to make it for Sunday. I said yes, of course. Alexis and I both worked on it, although it's not a two person job. She put something in the bowl, then left to go get Hope ready for bed, so I finished getting everything in the bowl and mixing it all up. By the time I was finished with it, I was full on bawling and crying (although I'm sure those two actions are the same). I couldn't help but imagine her standing there herself all those years....putting stuff in the bowl, mixing it all up, walking over and putting it in the refrigerator for the next day's lunch.

Thanks for bearing with me while you're reading this...I just felt like it was worth sharing....part of my soul, deep down. Misspellings below courtesy of Alexis...the teacher.

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