This year my Passover table was set for just four. My older son and his girlfriend left LA and endured the holiday weekend traffic (it was also Easter weekend) to arrive in time for the Seder.
My younger son and his now fiancee (we are elated) from San Francisco had hoped to come but work commitments were going to make it impossible. We would miss them, but understood.
So I set the table for the four of us. I love setting a holiday table, any holiday, actually.
However, when I had completed the table and gazed at my work I realized that the table told a story,,,
…a story of me and my husband of soon to be 45 years, a story of our individual families whom became each others’ family over time, of dear friends who are like family, and lastly a story of the family we created.. our two wonderful sons, and now the wonderful women in their lives, who are now fortunately in ours.
That table not only reflected the many past Passovers when we were the children seated there, but all of the Seders we have had with our children seated at the table.
As I looked around the table at the various serving pieces, candlesticks, and even the traditional foods soon to be placed on the table it struck me how so many family memories are living on that very table…
…my mother’s spongecake, her blue cake plate, her Matzah balls, and even the Passover chocolate covered jellies (which she purchased in a 5 pound box)…
…the beautiful candlestick holders, and the dish in the middle of the Seder plate to be filled with salt water, both gifts from our dearest friends…
…the beautiful dish, a housewarming gift from our son’s girlfriend’s parents , which I filled with horseradish for the Seder…
… the gravy boat from my husband’s paternal grand-mother, the ornate green wine decanter and glasses from his maternal grand-mother…
…the salt and pepper shakers from my brother and sister-in-law, the soup plates, a gift from my in-laws through the years as they added to our original wedding china…
…the covered serving dish from our aunt (who will be coming to visit us in a couple of weeks from the east coast)…
…the embroidered Matzah cover given to me from a good friend when as young families in Chicago we shared many Passovers together…
….I could go on and on…the antique glass cake plate I often use that was a wedding gift for my grandparents when they got married, the rolling pin that belonged to her as well…
…even the various yarmulkes (prayer caps that the men wear during the Seder) are inscribed with the dates of weddings or Bar-Mitzvahs of various family members. This year my son wore the one from my youngest brother’s Bar-Mitzvah, dated 1973.
So with Passover 2015 we continue to create new memories… and here is one we will be talking about in years to come…
As I was getting the food out after we finished the rituals of the Seder, my son said he heard a knock on the door. I explained it away as a noise coming from outside because the doorbell didn’t ring.
My son, however, knew better because earlier his younger brother texted him that he and his fiancee were on their way from San Francisco late as it was!
Just as I went to the kitchen to get something, and the rest were digging in to the meal I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. When I looked up there was our son’s dog followed by our son and his fiancee! It was a great surprise, and totally unexpected.
While I was still composing myself the rest of them had added chairs and dishes to the table, not the fine china, nor the crystal glasses, but whatever was handy, and that was perfectly okay with me.
And then we toasted to us all being together for our second Passover since we moved to California, and I don’t think the table ever looked so beautiful!!!