Aunt Betty was a one-of-a-kind, strong, independent woman. She didn’t take crap from anyone, and she stood fast in her beliefs. I miss her everyday! But I especially miss her on New Year’s Day.
She taught me that family is more important than all the things in the world. That when all else fades away, our family will still be there. And while we can’t always choose who is in our family, we still have to love them and do our best to grow closer to them.
Since she and her husband were older, Aunt Betty didn’t cook very much. My mother would often take plates of food to them, and I would tag along. I loved walking the 3 houses down to her house. It was a place of intrigue. She was a collector and a storyteller. Her Appalachian roots were ever evident in her speech and mannerisms. She loved Jesus, movies, animals, and most importantly: her family.
New Year’s Day would start at midnight; my parents kissing, calling to wish my sisters a Happy New Year, giving hugs and kisses then being sent to bed. Hopped up on sparkling cider, I’d toss and turn before sleeping for what seemed like 2 days. When I awoke, my mother would already have cooked our meal.
After covering everything in tin foil, we would walk down to my aunt’s house to be greeted by her, my uncle Arthur, and Gizmo the dog. Mom would hurry to the kitchen to make sure all the food was still hot, and we’d follow behind to sit and eat.
Aunt Betty would go through the list of foods, making sure that Mom had brought and prepared each one, and Mom would reassure her that she had indeed made everything. As she listed each item, she would recall what they represent:
Of course, Mom would also have made cornbread, as no meal was ever complete without bread. I would often wrinkle my nose at the peas and ham but would eat it anyways to avoid chastisement from Aunt Betty.
The rest of the day would be relaxed. We would sit around telling reliving the past year and making resolutions that we knew would be forgotten within the month. Sometimes, we’d watch a classic movie or work on a puzzle. And at the end of the day, we’d retrieve the empty dishes from the kitchen, hug and kiss goodbye, and slowly make our way back home.
Today, Taylor is the one who cooks our traditional New Year’s Day food. Being from the South, our traditions aligned. We have had years where we didn’t eat ham or had turkey ham instead. This year, we are lucky enough to have 2 slices left of Kirin’s country ham. But he always makes rice, peas, and greens on New Year’s Day.
We will have our meal this afternoon, minus the cornbread (because I’m lazy) and with some sweet tea. Then, we’ll discuss what we did this past year, and what we hope for next year. We may watch a movie or pull out a jigsaw. (Let’s be honest, we’ll all likely be staring at our phones.) But we’ll have done our tradition, and we’ll be together.
And that’s what matters most!