Family Traditions

The other day I had a friend over for dinner. As I began preparing dinner--a roast, I grabbed the butcher's knife and began cutting the ends off the roast. My friend asked me why I was cutting the ends off. I had to pause. At first the question just struck me as absurd. Some things were, well, they just were. The truth was I cut the ends of the roast off because that is how my mother did it. It never occured to me to ask why. It just was. I put down the knife and picked up the phone.

When I asked my mother why she cut the ends of the roast off before she cooked it, she was silent for a few moments. Finally she answered; "well I always cut the ends off because that is how your Grandmother always did it.

Even more perplexed at this point, I asked my mom to put my Grandma on the phone--my Grandma lives with my parents now.

I asked Grandma why she cut the ends off the roast before she cooked it. She answered; "I cut the ends off so the roast would fit in my pan.