It was written by my mom shortly before Thanksgiving of 1999. At this point, the tumor in her mouth had grown so much that talking was tough for her and unintelligible to anyone that wasn't me or one of my brothers. It was such a gradual procession that we were able to always understand what she was saying until the end.
The note was in regards to the upcoming holiday and what I should do. My first ever Thanksgiving at the helm. My brothers were back home for the time being and all my life, we normally celebrated the holiday with just the 5 of us. Christmas was the one holiday usually spent with relatives so with her not eating, it was just 3, emotionally drained people to feed so a full blown Thanksgiving feast wasn't really needed.
I never did make this pot roast. In fact, I have yet to make a pot roast at all even though I've always wanted to give it a try. For that Thanksgiving meal, I made a dish that was always popular and rarely had: pierogies with salt pork and a dollop of sour cream. My Finnish grandmother always made pierogies by hand. Thankfully at this time, Mrs. T's was out with the frozen kind with the salt pork being the only new addition to something that was just boil and eat. My brothers, being two single guys living on their own at that time, didn't mind one bit.
After I plated mine, I went into my mom's bedroom so she could see it (judge it?) and smell it. She wasn't eating at this point so smelling seemed to suffice and I got the thumb's up with the 'That smells good' comment.
That's just one of a few beautiful memories that I have during a time that probably couldn't be described as beautiful and this time of the year always makes me remember them.
Happy Thanksgiving!
5 comments:
Pot roasts are easy, especially in a slow cooker... Now for pierogies, I love them but have never made them. When I was in Pittsburgh, there were some Orthodox Churches that sold them. The last I remember eating in a restuarant was in eastern British Columbia, back in the PK (pre-kids) day.
It sounds like your mother had it rough, glad you kept the note, memories are good and it sounds like she was still trying to care for you all.
Memories like these are precious. Some things that come out of difficult times are valuable beyond measure.
Sage - Are you the dried onion soup user or do you use the prepacked pot roast seasonings? I have a coworker who's Polish and their church has fundraisers selling their pierogies. It's the only time I get handmade because you know those church ladies don't skimp and buy the frozen kind like I do. :-)
Tim - Perfectly phrased and so true!
Happy Thanksgiving Murf.
Dried onion soup? Nah, I start with a bottle of beer (seriously, used a darker beer or a wheat brew, I may use 2 bottles if my throat is feeling a little parched), a onion and whatever seasonings I find--then I cook the roast all day. I then throw that onion away (or eat it) add more onions, along with potatoes and carrots and cook on high till the vegetables are done.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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