My 98-year-old grandmother, Ora, arrived at our home for a two-week visit. My excitement about her stay spilled over into everything I did during the 10 days or so leading up to her time with us. I cleaned, rearranged, shopped, missed meetings ,and told whoever was around me, even strangers in the grocery store line: “My grandma is coming to town!” I knew I sounded like a 6-year-old girl, but I did not care!
Over the course of the days, I brewed nettle-lemongrass tea for her. I showed her how to make herb butter with fresh nutmeg, thyme, and chives from my garden. Throughout all we did in the kitchen, we sang old church songs, including African American spirituals.
My grandmother’s visit helped me understand that a continuum of values, faith, and well-being flows in our families from generation to generation. This continuity is most often found in the prayers we offer, the recipes we pass along, the food we grow, the refrains we hum, the stories we tell, the tables we set, and in my family, the kitchens we create.
This message is excerpted from “Ancestral tables” by Venice R. Williams in the September 2018 Gather magazine. Today is the 15th Sunday after Pentecost. Today is Grandparents’ Day.
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