Man these times that we are experiencing are unique. We went through our first big holiday/observation that usually only works with mass family gatherings at relatives houses. How did your family cope? Here's what we did to celebrate the first Sader, Easter and a Birthday.
Many of us have ageing parents or members of the family that are in the high-risk category. It's been especially tough on many of them. Some are lone widowers/widows, away in retirement homes or just at a distance that is usually overcome by a quick road trip. Well, not this year.
On my wife's side, we had a bit of a conundrum this year as it was my wife's (@felicenavidad) father's 80th birthday on Thursday. He's a widower and lives alone out of town. My brother-in-law (@lmon) lives in Chigaco. It was also the first night of Passover. We usually host or my sister-in-law will host the first Seder.
So, what did we do... we walked our Octoginarian Zaddy through setting up Zoom on his phone, coordinated a call time so that we could all celebrate his Birthday and all sit and enjoy the festive meal.
We did have a bit of a scramble as many of the ingredients, food items and symbolic measures were just not available. My wife usually makes awesome gefilte fish. It stinks the whole house up, and I mean stinks, for days, but it is really good. That was missed this year.
One thing I did find plenty of... liver. @felicenavidad makes a kick-ass chopper liver - oh, man is it ever decadent. Check this out below. Oh, yum.
Let the festive meal begin...
My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and 80-year-old Father-in-law joined us as we hosted the first sader. We all enjoyed the dinner together. If you notice the seder plate, we had to improvise. But we had homemade chicken soup with knaidel (Matzah Balls). We had a great time and my father-in-law was so happy to be able to celebrate his birthday with his family, regardless.
So, that takes care of my wife's side of the family. While we didn't have any family meal settings we did get together with my two sets of parents and sisters to chat for about an hour with each set.
Overall it was a great way to get together given the circumstances. Everyone was appreciative of the time, the connection and that we are all healthy. It allowed us to continue with some of the family traditions, like getting together for the first seder.
Let me know what you did to celebrate the holidays given the COVID-19 environment we now live under.
Oh, and happy belated Easter and Passover to everyone out there, if you celebrate it. I'm just along for the ride.
Stay home, Stay Healthy, Stay Safe.
