The very first person
who impacted my life in a positive way was my Grandmother. I come from a very
large Italian family where the gatherings are huge and the noise it WAY to
loud. We loved each other very much but expressing that love was shown in different
ways by different people. My Grandmother would always sit with me and talk
about family and the love that her parents had for her. She would share history
with me as well as family tradition and why we had those family traditions. My
Grandmother is no longer with us but I love to sit with my kids and share with
them all of the stories that she shared with me. I also take from her my love
of cooking and spend a lot of time cooking with my kids. Usually the family
stories have some sort of meal and special recipe that I can share with them
because she spent so much time sharing them with me. 
The second person who
impacted my life in a positive way was my Aunt Barbara. She is my Godmother and
my father’s sister. While my parents have always been together and I come from a
traditional home my mother has not always been the best role model for me. My Aunt
has always taken the time to be that good role model. She would take me out for
long weekends and just spend time talking with me about me and my future and
she taught me how to set and reach goals. She is also the only person in my
life who has brought me to a place where I h=can have a loving relationship with
God. Most of my family (while they say they believe) do not live a Christian
life but my Aunt Barbara has really set a good example of what a good Christian
lives like. She has also helped me to bring those same qualities to my
children. I have learned from her that my children are going to learn from my
example and if I am going to give them the best life possible then I am going
to have to lead my example.
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI love that we were have so much too pass on to our children. So were you taught how to make any of the Italian dishes or did you learn on your own from recipes? Sharing family dishes with my children is something that I like to do because this is how I learned and to be able to share a story with it makes it all the more special.
Sherry,
DeleteI was taught these recipes from my grandmother and I have taught my children. My daughter is eleven and while she can hold her own in the kitchen she doesn't particularly enjoy it. My son on the other hand, absolutely loves the kitchen and for 4 years old can handle him self well. He knows how to safely use a knife and work on the stove top (with help). H learned the family spaghetti recipe after helping me with it one time while my daughter took several months to get it right. LOL
It is so nice to have someone that you can turn to that will teach you such wonderful things. Those people are the ones that stick with us throughout our entire lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice to have those traditions passed down from generation to generation. Your children will appreciate the time you took to talk to them about your grandmother and I'm sure they will share those stories with their children in the future.
ReplyDelete