New Year's Eve 2013

I'm human. No matter how many years one might keep a tradition, that memory is easily lost when the tradition is discontinued. We didn't make oyster stew for Christmas. Oyster stew was for New Year's Eve. Or, New Year celebrations. Still unsure, but I ran across multiple images of oyster stew cooking and in bowls today in my journals, so I stand corrected.

At any rate, Mom's last New Year's Eve in 2013 was a small celebration. Dad usually went to bed about 9:30 pm in his later years with mom. I was visiting so she and I stayed up until the ball dropped in Times Square. We watched the New York Philharmonic, Yo Yo Ma, and a performace of Bolero, and I was trying not to cry knowing that mom may die in the new year.

On New Year's Eve in 2014, I was in Virginia again, beginning a tradition that would last until my father died. "Christmas with Dad" was never uneventful, sometimes harrowing, other times just downright fun. But, in 2014, he had the flu and I caught it from him despite our shots. I think we both were depressed as well, because mom's decorations never went up and there was nothing to take down.

But we did have another pot of oyster stew.

I sat down to remember the recipe and shared it at Joanne's Recipes. Enjoy!