Memories of Loved Ones are Songs in Our Soul
The holidays are times of great joy and sorrow. For those of us who've lost loved ones, their memories are etched deep in our souls and baked into every ritual we shared during the Christmas holiday.
Finding ways to honor loved ones memory through weaving their stories into current rituals releases the tender memories we hold, and invites our loved ones who've passed to sit at our holiday table and join in the festivities.
Who do you want to Honor?
Who have you lost you'd like to honor and remember? What tender memories would you like to harness and enjoy? What warm holiday rituals can you participate in to bring fond memories of your loved one into your day?
Daddy at Christmas
For me, Christmas is a time to remember my father who passed in 2014. He is the one who taught us how to make his mother's Christmas rolls. Everyone in the family looked forward to the annual making of the cinnamon rolls.
Making the rolls always started by taking down the oversized bread making bowl and Irma S. Rombauer's 'Joy of Cooking' (A compilation of reliable recipes with an occasional culinary chat 1931-1943).
You couldn't be in a hurry when making cinnamon rolls with my father. The mixing, kneading, rising, rolling, filling, second rising, and baking would take as much time as it needed. Of course that didn't stop me from pinching off pieces of the dough to pop in my mouth while waiting. It made the waiting that much sweeter.
After my father passed, and we chose things we wanted from our parents home I quickly chose the oversized bread-making bowl. I keep the tradition of storing it up high and ceremonially bringing it down to make the Christmas rolls each year.
And of course I use the dough recipe out of my 1943 Joy of Cooking that's held together with rubber bands and love. It even has some of my father's handwritten notes.
As I engaged in each ceremonial step of making this year's Christmas rolls, smile after smile arose in me as years of memories making cinnamon rolls with my father embraced and comforted me. I could even hear him saying, "Who you analyzing now, Suz?"
I sent my siblings pictures of my cinnamon rolls to start the good natured battle at Christmas, in which we egg each other on over who's cinnamon rolls are the best. They replied with pictures of their own sweet masterpieces. It is our way of basking in the fond memories together of the warm and loving family we grew up in.
Dwell on the Warmth of Your Memories
During the holiday season, find a way to dwell on, and enhance, memories of your loved ones who've passed. Celebrate how they've touched your life. Find a way to keep their memories alive in your heart.
Memories of loved ones are like tender songs in our soul
