A series of essays....
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| WELL-WORN COPIES OF THE JOY OF COOKING FROM THE LIBRARY OF JULIA CHILD |
National Museum of American History
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
Now, more than ever, it’s so important to uplift our spirits and learn to create innocent joy and happiness within our daily lives. It may be through the simplest of actions and most innocent thoughts that this feeling is conjured up and held dear. The most important thing to remember is that we all have experienced joy at one time or another and to extract it now from the depths of our very being could be our personal saving grace.
Triggers to finding our underlying joy may be found in many places. Certain colors can remind us of places we’ve enjoyed visiting. Forty shades of green -- indeed! The simplicity of identifying colorful birds we’ve captured in pictures, or visiting our local Farmer’s Market on a warm, sunny morning to purchase richly colored vegetables for an evening meal may trigger special occasions with friends or certain events.
Now might be an excellent time to pull-out family albums or release those stacks of pictures living in a box for years. Memories are meant to be tickled awake by faded photographs of time nearly forgotten while reinventing the pure joy felt while cooking dinner with grandma, seeing a loved one graduate from college twenty years ago, or recognizing a much younger friend photobombing in some of your forty-seven-year-old wedding photos.
Our daughter purchased an Ancestry DNA Test Kit for her father for Christmas. Dan has been conducting family history research for years and was happy to possibly include his geographic origins and identify potential relatives through DNA matching with others. Well, I’ve always known that I fell in love with an Irishman but, can you imagine the joy I felt in discovering that he has twenty percent deep-seeded roots located in Normandy, France? I often wondered how he would pick-up the accent and meaning of words so easily with each trip we made there. It’s slightly crazy but, it appears that I married my Frenchman after all!
Perhaps you own a well-worn copy of “The Joy of Cooking,” the sixth edition (1975), living happily on a kitchen shelf. Having married around this time period, I certainly do, and this may be the only thing that Julia Child and I ever had in common! However I acquired it, this book has brought me such joy and satisfaction through all phases of being ‘Chief Chef’ in my own kitchen. Do you think I’ve earned at least one Michelin star towards all of the years of quality home cooking service?
While I’m on the subject of cooking, having good friends over to our home right before St. Patrick’s Day required a special menu for our dinner together. Deciding on Shepherd’s Pie made with ground turkey, kale salad, fresh fruit, and soda bread, we were doing well -- until dessert! That’s when I served Baileys Irish Cream brownies topped with vanilla frosting laced with Baileys. Now, the pure joy on all of our faces shined through with each bite of brownie that was consumed!
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| ST. PATRICK'S DAY FEAST WITH GOOD FRIENDS AND ALL OF THE TRIMMINGS |
Joy is rediscovered by having a beloved neighbor across the street from our Orlando home give me a call out of the blue and proceed to talk ‘catch-up’ for a couple of hours! Janice and I go way back at around 'eighteen years of friendship ago' as we were building our homes across from one another in Florida. Some friendships grow gradually. Ours made a deep impression upon one another right from the start. Thousands of hugs, tears, stories, and smiles later...we’ve discovered that distance means nothing when it comes to being true friends. Love you, Beautiful!
I can’t sugar coat it — the next few weeks, months, will not be easy for any of us. I have grandchildren who will, most likely, have to sacrifice the rest of their school year. Graduating seniors will be deprived of future prom memories, senior class trips, as well as the completion of many of their winter/spring sports, with graduation day consisting of mailed diplomas and the loss of pride and joy not being able to walk across that stage to honor all of the academic achievements they’d worked so long and hard for.
Our oldest granddaughter will be turning thirteen in May. She has been diligently studying her Hebrew lessons in anticipation of sharing her bat mitzvah celebration with family and friends at the end of May. Most likely, her celebration will be moved to another date along with many wedding celebrations planned for and scheduled within the next few months.
Yes, sacrifices will have to be made by all of us, including the small shop owner who could lose his or her business due to long lasting closures. The hourly employees who helped these establishments run smoothly will lose the income that paid their bills and placed food on the table for their families. At this very moment, the coronavirus layoffs surge across America, overwhelming unemployment offices and causing unemployment percentages to rise exponentially.
Ultimately, those individuals who have already, as well as those who will, relinquish their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic, are the people who, albeit unwittingly, have made the ultimate sacrifice. As the virus spreads, the human toll grows. This virus spreads so quickly and never discriminates against a person on the basis of race, sex, class distinction, or religious beliefs. Consequently, we’re all in this fight together.
Let’s place a virtual sign ‘taped’ to our brains and hearts, just as the small shops have had to actually do, stating, ‘Temporarily Closed Due to the Current Health Crisis. Hope to Re-Open Soon!’ Hopefully this will remind us that social distancing and self-quarantine is such a minor sacrifice in order to save more lives in the future and reinforce the fact that we all have so much to live for; all of the small sacrifices on our part hold significant repercussions for everyone. Consider the challenges faced by our health care workers, all first responders, and civic leaders right now. Our cooperation with them at this critical time is essential.
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| SOUND ADVICE FOR ALL OF US |
I believe that creating space around us can inspire joy, set us apart from the crowd and allow our imaginations to thrive. It will be interesting to discover, after all is said and done, how priorities will change, dependencies will alter, and art, literature (libraries), and all forms of creative imagination will become the focal point of and defining outline for our future. Italy has already been proving that sharing music with one another via one balcony to another has helped to soothe their very souls.
My wish is that we do not continue to fear one another during our healing process. May we never forget the natural order of social evolution where loving thy neighbor, the social niceties and kindnesses we shared before, such as greeting one another with hand shakes, hugs and kisses, are not lost. And, we must continue to create the joy that extends from human interaction and make certain it remains a valuable asset for all of us.
We must make everyone whole once again.
Take a deep breath....we’re going to get through this, as long as we all work together.
Stay safe and never forget to love one another.
As my friend, Janice, in Orlando told me, “For now, just wave and keep it movin’!!”
Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
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