My Belizean Heritage

There is a space inside my Mom that is full and empty.

Seeping through the edges are the

faces...

songs... 

stories...

scents...

humidity...

tears...

joy...

regret...

laughter...

music...

sacrifice...

grace...

and food...

of Belize!

She's an MK (missionary kid)...

She spent several years in Belize with her parents... brother and sister. 

They ministered, evangelized and sang!

They even cut two records!  Here's the cover of one of them.

Mom's in the pink dress... Little sister Sue in the white dress... and Mickey standing behind.

My Grandmom and Grandad are seated in the middle.

Mickey, Pat and Sue were (and still are) quite the trio. 

There is nothing like blood harmony.

I love this picture... it is so... classic.

I was helping Mom edit some of her memories and stories of Belize recently and this sentence sent me on a journey.

"Beans and rice were the most common and delicious food. Of course there were several types of bananas, breadfruit,and chicken fixed with Recado, a special blend of seasonings I still crave."

Surely Recado (aka Ricardo, Recardo) could be found online. 

So... I Googled... I found... I purchased!

If you're curious and want to order your own... www.bluefield-prod.com

For Easter Grandmom coached me through the preparation of...

Belizean style beans and rice... chicken "stew" with Recado... banana and cabbage slaw

 (I know... sounds weird but it was actually one of my favorite parts of the meal)...

 and fried plantains.

She's wearing plastic gloves because the red color of the Recado spice will stain your hands! So if you handle it... you've been warned.

You take the spice (it looks sort of like a bouillon block but softer) and mix it with a little vinegar (just until it is a thick paste).

Then you rub the chicken generously with the red Recado mixture and let it sit for at least 20 minutes before throwing it into the frying pan. 

(A cast iron skillet works best Grandmom says, but we didn't have one...

so Teflon did pretty well in a pinch.)

We even got husband into the kitchen for some moments of heavy lifting.
I just love a man with a hot pad!

So what does Recado taste like? 

It's not spicy... like you might imagine judging it by it's fiery red color. 

It is more smokey... maybe paprika in nature.  I did a little research and found that it is made from the annatto seed. 

Mom says it tasted like she remembered... so mission accomplished.

It was down home and rich and the combination of all the items we put on the table was at the same time familiar... and exotic.  I liked it.  I'll make it again.

The best part though, was cooking with Grandmom. 

Listening to the stories and memories...

Reminiscing while the kitchen filled up with fragrance from another life.

Belize is a ghost for me too, certainly not in the same way as it is for those who lived there... but I feel it sometimes.  Somewhere deep in my gut... is a mutated gene inherited from Mom.  It forms the shape of a small country.  It is a warm glowing seed that I don't fully understand. I visited once when I was in college.  One of the souls they loved there... the Other Brother Wright... picked me up and showed me around.  He took me through the rooms where the Wright Family had poured out ministry and song. 

Beautiful ebony faces sang to me as if I was a princess from another land... and I wept.

I was home... and yet I was not.

This is the ache Mom feels... multiplied eternally.

It was so strange... to return to a place I had never been before.  

Family Forest

I am very proud to say that I don't have a family tree... it's a forest. 

Seriously.

 

In high school I was assigned the task of drawing my family tree on a chalkboard.  Needless to say, I filled every square inch of green.  It was then that I realized that my "tree" was more like a wilderness... with quirky little poplars and towering pines.

• I am one of 8 children.
• I never lived with a sibling full-time until I was 17.
• I have no "full" siblings... they are all steps or halves.
• I am an "only", "oldest", "middle" and "youngest" depending upon which branch of the family tree you are exploring (however I have only/oldest personality traits... primarily).

I will not bore you with the mind-numbing details of marriages, divorces, who belongs to whom, etc... it's all fine print anyway.

The bottom line... the whole brood is family...

We are loud... opinionated... loyal... imperfect... elaborate... simple... often musical... definitely dramatic... down-to-earth... deep thinkers... desperate for grace... salt and light... soiled... deeply rooted... moody... and beyond. 

To deliciously complicate matters, almost 18 years ago, I was grafted into another large family when my husband and I tied the knot!  Though not nearly as complex, they are also a meandering vine!

We even get to count many of them as neighbors since we live on a family farm.

To keep it as simple as possible, I have 3 distinct sets of family... 

The Colorado Parents, the Houston Parents... and the Farm Family. 

It's been really fun recently that some of my different trees have begun to intertwine. Last Christmas we spent the holidays with my Colorado Parents... and my Houston Sisters came with us.  At one point Colorado Brother queried as to exactly how he was related to the Houston Sisters (not at all actually)... he created a new familial definition...

Non-Descript-Half-Step-Sisters... I love it!!

I did manage to fit my Farm Family's immediate leaves into the traditional structure of a tree a few years ago.  My Farm Mom specifically requested it for Christmas and then my Farm Sister had to have one too. =) 

I started the design on a piece of paper with MERRIFIELD as the "trunk" and then simply started attaching the names (crossword puzzle style) trying to keep things in the general correct "shape" of a tree... (not too lopsided... wide or tall).  

When the names were all added (be sure to double check... you would not want to accidentally omit a leaf!) I sketched in the curved branches and then worked with paint and canvas to achieve the final product.  

We've added two new leaves (Catherine and Caleb) since the original painting, so if you attempt something like this at home, be sure to leave room as the family grows. =)