Lunch Among Family Is Precious

Growing up we didn’t live close to any relatives on either side and so we didn’t see cousins often. Both of my parents were from a Central Illinois town about 3 hours south of where we grew up and their siblings were either living in that region or had made their way to different parts of the country - Nevada, Minnesota. Florida, Wisconsin.  

Also, our parents had us later in life and we were significantly younger than most of our cousins, so we didn’t have much in common as we grew up because of the big age gap. We had some second cousins (kids of our cousins) that were much closer in age. 

As we were in Minneapolis last week to see our paternal aunt, we also made time to visit a maternal second cousin. Her brother happened to be passing through town for work and we were able to see him, too, which was so nice. He’s just 4 years younger than me (2 years younger than the other foodie sisters) and she’s 5 years younger. 

We had so much fun visiting - and they were sweet enough to invite us for lunch, which was delicious. And also very sweet and gracious considering her poor husband had a medical test scheduled the next day that meant he was fasting and couldn’t eat a bite of the food he’d helped prepare and watched us eat. It included homemade salsas, rice, tamales and cake for dessert from a local bakery. 

As time goes by, many of our relatives pass on and some have lost touch. It’s so meaningful to be able to stay connected with family. And, as often happens, food helps bring us together.