Passover with my family.....

by Maureen

Some of you may know that on April 8th at sundown marks the beginning of Passover or Pesach. Last year I wrote a blog about the religious aspects of the holiday. I don't have a copy of it, but if anyone wants to read it, I volunteer our nest historian SHIRLEY to research the past blogs and let you know where it is :)

This year I decided to write a personal account of Passover in my "mishuganah" (crazy) family! You probably can tell from so many of my posts that I have a lot of cousins and we gather often. We absolutely love each other but even better is we like each other...a lot! Even the goofballs, loonies, whackos and "fermished" (confused) amongst us! And the "mishpucha" (honorary family) are every bit as special to be with.

This year, like last we will gather at Elaine's. There will be 3 tables set. The main dining table will seat the cousins that are more sedate. The table in the living room will seat the late comers and the cousins that are not as present. The cousins that have the two twin boys that are extremely ADHD and will down can after can of Coke...feeding their frenzy and getting louder with each story they relate to us. I for one will become exhausted after listening to them for even a few minutes! These are the same boys that at a Bar Mitzvah a few years ago drank numerous cups of coffee, slice after slice of cake and pie and then filled their cups with chocolate from the chocolate fountain...then spent the night barfing in the hotel room! And the next day their mom couldn't understand why they were sick! The third table, in between the others will be the "COOL" table! The table I generally sit at ;) This table will be the cousins that are sorta in the same age range. We will discuss Idol, DWTS and how crazy the boys at the other table are! We will repeat over and over how full we are as we are asking each other to pass another platter of something our way! Then a couple of us will prop ourselves up and head out to the patio to "observe the foliage"...code for having a cig!

Among the tables will be the pitter patter of little feet as the youngest of the cousins (5 - 10) will be running back and forth between the back bedroom with the video games and the basement with the pool table and ping pong table. Not a morsel of food will pass between their lips, but a number of sodas will! Just what they need...more sugar! Along the way, one at a time they will stop and ask one of us to play with them. The answer will be the same...in a few minutes! If we play our cards right we will be in the car on the way home before they realize not one of us hit a ping pong ball or racked up the pool balls even once!

Together we will sit and share stories of Passover pasts. Joanne, the matriarch of our family will enlighten us with family stories. Since she is the eldest we will have no idea if they are real or a figment of her very fertile imagination! But, we will listen with open ears and wide eyes. Then, when she leaves the room for something we will all say...no way did that ever happen!! Or did it???? We will spend a good deal of the time "plotzing" (laughing our asses off) until we cry!

Before anyone leaves they will be armed with a shopping bag full of Tupperware, Glad containers, baggies and foil wrapped plates of delicacies. A "nosh" (snack) for the next day...or two...or three!

Speaking of delicacies, there are certain foods that are traditional and some that are taboo. As we have gotten older the religious aspects seem to wane. When I was a kid we said the prayers and followed the traditions, rites and rituals. Now, the youngest generations are the children of Jewish / Catholic marriages and the traditions are not followed. One taboo is anything leavened or made with flour. A couple of years ago, one of the Catholic cousins was doing her Easter baking and brought, as her contribution - - pepperoni bread! We all chowed down on it...at the Seder table! That was after we had matzo ball soup with noodles! Oopsies! The traditional foods were there, just peppered with some things we all just like! One honorary cousin was asked by Elaine to bake and bring an Apple cake, since she makes it so darn good...to hell with the fact it is made of flour!

Finally, after a few hours, one by one we will leave with our doggie bags. Some of us will get on our cell phones and chat as we go to our homes and talk about how much fun we just had, how we can't believe that we "fressed" (ate) like a "faird" (horse), how crazy Joanne was... and how we can't wait until the next night as we do it all over again! Then once home we will plop down on our beds, tummies full and go "shluphin" (to sleep) and dream of giant matzo balls and the attack of the gefilte fish!

So that is a little insight into the holiday with my family! If you were here, you would all be invited...and you could sit at the "cool" table!