New Year, Pandemic Me

Let me tell you, 2020 was wild but 2021 is off to a crazy start as well! I'm sure you know having lived through the same year as I did, but every experience has been so different. Traditions changed, and new routines were adopted, but one tradition I was able to continue was my New Years Gumbo... For 10 years running I have made this meal, and what's unique for me is that I literally only make it once a year.

Every year I pour up my bowl and as I shovel it in by the spoonful I wonder...why do I deprive myself of this deliciousness 364 days of the year?! I think maybe it's because I forget about it, but the reality is...it's the tradition of it all. It's one day, one meal, and oh so satisfying. (I also wonder why I reserve all my onesie wearing for December and none of the other months, but that's pondering I will reserve for a different day.) So let me tell you about this 'gumbo" and the fact that it's more of a jambalaya...lol once you pick a name it's hard to change it. Anyways, it has 3 types of meat: ground turkey, kielbasa, and shrimp. Other ingredients include onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, Black-eyed peas, and a box of jambalaya mix. I told you the name was misleading. It's a one-pot, comfort, easy, special, curl up with your feet up type of meal. I no longer remember where the recipe came from, but I know it all started with trying to sneak black-eyed peas into a meal without having them as an actual side by itself. It's one of those no leftover goes uneaten kind of meals. Traditions are so so special they keep us centered. Those little moments can bring a certain nostalgia that not even COVID could wipe away. As I inhaled my bowl yesterday I couldn't help but think of all the new traditions and routines I have been able to establish. Everything from a newfound love of baths to special bedtime songs with Braylen. Traditions are so important. They are subtle reminders of yesterday, and at the same time make me excited for how they will continue to evolve in the future. Who will be there the next time you make that meal? Where will you be the next time you sing that song? And what will happen this year to help you hold on to a tradition of the past or create a new tradition that will be passed down for generations to come. This year gave us so many different viewpoints of the same struggle...were you essential? Did you have to work from home? Were you in school? Were you single? Do you have kids? Did you stand up for #BLM? Did you lose a loved one to COVID? Regardless of how we got through this year...I know I will start a new tradition of hugging my loved ones tighter when I can, tell them I love them more, and stay connected...because you never know what the next day will bring.