Early in my formation of a book club at the library, a woman of forty some years came one time and then confided in a friend that she couldn't join that group because the women were too old!! I was rather stunned as the majority were around my age! But the more I thought of it - and certainly it was her choice - what a potential treasure trove she was kicking to the curb! I realized further, I have always loved hanging around elderly people - at whatever age I was - because the years they represented awed me. And what a lot there was to learn from them! Even it was just not to be as cranky as they turned out to be!!
As my years increase, I would give worlds to be able to sit by my parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents' sides and ask hundreds of questions. The lost history saddens me. I suppose every generation feels this way, but now I want to know context! Why did they cook, think, dress, work, talk the way they did. This all came sharply to me when I was discussing with my husband why I always make "keckling" (cooked soy beans) for Thanksgiving. Mother did. Why? Soy beans don't seem like a Lancaster County staple! So did Grandma Weaver make them? Or was there some foreign influence that came to bear on Mother?! Such a minor detail, but I have such an ocean of longing to know more about the nitty-gritty of our bones.
And the mysterious keckling rocked the meal, as always!
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