| Life has ups and downs for everyone. Those who care for us do
their best to celebrate the ups and ease the down times with hugs, smiles, and
treats. Can you recall the tastes which meant comfort and love in childhood?
There were family visits accompanied by coffee cake, happy dinners with baked
apples or rice pudding for dessert, and the various ailments during which we
were soothed by bed trays holding cups of sweet tea and rugelach. Our most
tender memories are flavored with cinnamon.
With the first stirrings of adolescence comes a susceptibility to commercial
messages. This is when the candy makers tell us that love tastes like chocolate.
No more those happy morsels made from scraps of pie dough sprinkled with
cinnamon sugar; only elaborate chocolate chip cookies will do.
Ad budgets being what they are, the gentle supportiveness of cinnamon treats
doesn't stand a chance. Chocolate becomes equated with romance and passion in
elegant gold boxes. Never mind that these things are made by machine; fools
spend their money on mass-marketed love, and imagine that their gifts are
meaningful.
Yes, those beribboned ballotins impart a message. They say loud and clear that
the recipient is only worth the time it takes to throw a few bills on a counter,
or place a telephone order. How paltry beside the caring labor of hands which
make and serve apple dumplings, or a bread pudding with plenty of plump raisins.
During February, the nights are cold and bitter. There is no better comfort than
hot spiced cider, but there are many who will come in from the shivering weather
and try to get cozy with chilled Champagne. How sad, to choose a chemical
reaction over genuine warmth.
Real love doesn't come wrapped in fancy paper or awash in alcohol. Why don't you
try a compromise? Take a lovely walk under the winter stars, then come in and
get homey with some cocoa and cinnamon toast. There is no treat more guaranteed
to evoke memories of gladness. Perhaps, you will create the sort of lasting joy
you truly desire. |
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