Melanie and I paid a visit to my Grandparents on Sunday to indulge in the incredible feast that my grandmother always puts together. As is the norm, there was enough food to feed a Third World Nation, and since there were only the four of us at the dinner table I admonished her for working too hard.

It’s a habit though. Grandma was the eldest of sixteen children (that survived infancy), and she has always been used to cooking for large multitudes of people. Even after growing up, getting married and having four children of her own, she became a foster parent and ended up taking care of an additional 4-8 children at any given time. Since retiring from fostering almost twenty years ago, she has gone on to working at multiple restaurants and even owning two different locations herself along with my grandfather. The Riverdale Restaurant in Pefferlaw, Ontario was a limited success due to the population and economic situation of that town at the time, and Edith’s Good Food in Baldwin did good business due to its location, but the price of her rent and the cost of keeping her amazing buffet dinner’s going became too much of a hinderance. After she closed the doors on that venture she gave up on owning restaurants for good.

A good thing too, but only for selfish reasons of my own. Her cooking is so good that I like to consider myself priviledged to be a part of her inner circle. When she cooks for the public it devalues my own social worth. So, I’d rather remain a total bastard and keep it all to myself and my kin. I’m totally joking of course. But it is that freakin’ good.

After all the Roast Beef and Whipped Potatoes and the multitude of other vegetables were consumed, to be joined by the overdosing piece of Fresh Apple Pie, we rolled ourselves away from the table and sprawled onto her couches to have an after dinner chat. The normal conversations roamed our quartet – the pregancy, baby names, other members of the family, my uncles house (we visited it previously – I will write about that later, trust me – WOAH!!!!!), and whatever came to mind. I remember being totally shocked looking at the clock, seeing that it was 6pm and it was totally black outside.

Grandma and I sat out on the veranda in our winter jackets while she had an after dinner smoke and stared out into the fields beyond. They live on the outskirts of Orangeville, and their apartment faces onto a bird sanctuary. Absolutely gorgeous view. I suddenly noticed that there was a vividly green Aurora Borealis occuring in the Eastern Sky (which confused me, I always figured it was only to be seen to the north). Watching the dance of the “Northern Lights” was awe inspiring and it added to the peaceful feeling we felt. We were in the country, not the city…there was no hustle and bustle to be felt. Just the four of us enjoying a quiet evening together. That’s what Sunday evenings should always be like.