AN OLD CAST IRON PAN

I imagine when you first see it…all you see an old cast-iron pan…you don’t see where it’s been…you only notice the outside…not the history within.

But every time we use it…we handle it affectionately…because when we pick up this old cast-iron pan…that…is exactly what we see.

Some of this pan’s history we know…the rest we must infer…it was Debrah’s grandmother’s…passed down to her mother…then passed on down to her.

Now take another look at it…imagine, if you can, three generations of meals…cooked inside this pan.

Think of all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners served up lovingly…think of what this old cast-iron pan has meant to our family.

I wonder if that’s what makes anything cooked in this pan taste so good…as we think about how long ago it was cast…as the flavors we are tasting today blend with all those flavors from the past.

I suppose that’s why we get a little sentimental…why we use this pan so reverentially…knowing its age and history is what makes it special…knowing it’s a lot like Deborah and me.

And hoping how the three of us…Deborah, me and this old cast-iron pan…with a little bit of care and a lot of love…will keep cooking as long as we can.

We only hope there is at least one item in your house filled with memories…filled with its own history…an item like our old cast-iron pan…that’s part of your family.