Extended Family & Food
WELCOME
Delicious Memories is on a role! Since introducing the website in January to close family, the community has grown to include my high school friends who are, in part, an inspiration for the site (see ABOUT) . This week extended family are invited. These are aunts, uncles, cousins and those we’ve come to love through our children and siblings. Many have come into our life through marriage but some through friendships. All these people are part of our life experiences and many have contributed new and exciting tastes to our delicious memories. WELCOME, WELCOME TO YOU ALL!
EXTENDED CONFUSION
The concept of the extended family can be very confusing, especially for children. It took me a long time to understand the relationship between family members. Rosemary appeared to be my cousin for years. We even called her parents Uncle John and and Aunt Virginia. Turns out Rosemary and her siblings weren’t cousins at all. Rosemary’s mother and my mom were best friends growing up. Virginia married John, who just happen to be the brother of my Mom’s sister-in-law, Bernice (Uncle Dominic’s wife). Confusing for sure! For most of my life I thought Rosemary, her brother, John Jr., and sister, Barbara, were my cousins but they weren’t even related. They were cousins of cousins and we spent many occasions with them during my childhood years. Rosemary and I eventually attended the same college and we bonded even though her tenure at college lasted only a few months. A story for another day. I have posted a picture of my mother and Virginia in the Shelbyville-Road-scrapbook page. Please share your quirky extended-family stories with the DM community or your thoughts on when friends as family.
REAL EXTENDED FAMILY
Then there is real extended family, Zio Fonso and Zia Maria. Zio is my grandmother’s brother and Maria his wife. They lived with their two daughters, Teresa and Mary, in an apartment above my father’s family in the Courtland Avenue house. I never thought much about our relationship, I just knew they were family. Teresa was my godmother and lot older than me, the same age as my Dad’s brother, John. Teresa married and left home when I was around six or seven, leaving Mary, the last of the Courtland children to leave home. I idolized Mary, only 5 years my senior. When I’d visit Courtland in my preadolescence, Mary took me under her wings, letting me tag along with her and her friends. We’d venture out, usually heading “up the pike” (meaning the business strip along Montgomery Rd in Norwood, OH). There we’d find a public pool, the dime store and movies. I remember sitting through a number of Pat Boone movies with Mary and her friends, often bored having watched a double feature, and then, watching the first movie again! ARGH! Mary also taught me to jitterbug to her 45 RPM records in the basement, not far from the ringer washer. Turns out, Mary and Teresa are my first cousins, once removed, and it wasn’t until I was about 13 that I finally understood they were my father’s 1st cousins. CLICK HERE to view an update in the Courtland Avenue scrapbook page.
EXTENDED RECIPE
Just as family is extended and recipes can be as well. Enters Zia’s spaghetti soup, the recipe of the week. Zia made a Minestrone soup that mimicked my grandmother’s but with an interesting twist. Zia would prepare a batch of Minestrone and then she’d cool and mash the soup through a strainer (or food mill). I recall the first time I had a taste of this wonderful concoction. One afternoon, when Zia finished her SPAGHETTI SOUP, I asked for taste. She presented me with a piping hot bowl to enjoy. Oh my, the same wonderful taste of grandma’s Minestrone soup packed with short strands of spaghetti al dente. A delicious memory I’ve recreated to share with you. CLICK HERE to view.
EXTENDED FAMILY & BEYOND
With the arrival of DNA testing, we are now finding extended family we knew were out in the wider world but had no way to access. This testing brings us in contact with a broad range of relatives from all over the world. There are also incidents where we learn of relatives unknown to us. Recently, I learned of a second cousin in Australia who had been born out of wedlock to a great uncle and given up for adoption as a baby. Just recently he choose to learn the identity of his biological parents so his children would know their roots. We invite them all to be part of our family. We’ll explore this story in a later BLOG POST. I’m hoping DM members will share additional stories about lost and unknown family. Like our newly discovered Australian cousins, there may be others who would like to know their delicious heritage.
