They say following traditions is just peer pressure from dead people. Do you ever ask yourself why you and your family always do things a certain way or celebrate holidays a certain way?
When I grew up with my dad, he’d always make sure I ate breakfast before he dropped me off to whomever would be watching me for the day while he went in the boat fishing. Toast, eggs and hotdog, Capt’n Crunch cereal…something. Just to make sure i wasn’t going by folks on an empty stomach.
My favorite of all days were Saturdays. Saturdays were for pancakes. And not just, add water and pour pancakes. Pancakes that required 1 egg, oil and milk. I would get 3 pancakes cut into bite size pieces that filled the entire plate. I would stand on the couch with its back to the counter to eat, half my body on the counter, the other half on the couch, bouncing with delight.
My Grammy was the quintessential Bahamian hostess. You pop her house on any day and she is going to ask, “You wan somethin ta eat?”
I appreciate that I got to spend so much time as a child with her. Saturdays with her, while I don’t remember the food so much, I do remember the coffee. The huge pots of coffee she would put on. She would pour herself a cup very early in the morning and I recall begging, “Grammy, I could have some of your coffee please?”
“Coffee ain’t for chirren, sweetie,” but somehow I would always manage to get the last few mouthfuls of her cup and she would add cream and sugar to it for me.
Saturday visitors of all ages could stop by for coffee, food, light banter and tons of stories. Bonus points if they had kids my age I could play with, otherwise I would be right there, listening to “big people business”.
Many of the names of those visitors have faded but I remember Monica, the lady that lived on the hill whose mango tree leaned off into the road which made picking mangoes an easy and fun stroll. Lillian and Gwen’s visits somehow always included wrestling (Steve Austin) and soap stories. Some cousins from North Abaco (aka down the shore, which I’ve heard is now considered derogatory) always had some relationship dramas, but ine ga talk their business.
Today is my dad’s birthday. Happy birthday daddy. Today like many Saturdays I made pancakes. And I had a cup of coffee.
Over the years, if there’s one thing that I do is that one day of my weekend, I have pancakes. I have a slow breakfast and a coffee. In college, as a working adult, in Yangon, Exuma and the States. Wherever I go, this is one tradition I take with me. My little ritual.
Life of Neu 