Family Treasure

Recently my sister sent me a text:  “I’m feeling poorly with allergies.  Do you have Mom’s cream of tomato soup recipe?”  Whenever we were sick as kids, Mom would make something special for us to eat.  We all loved her cream of tomato soup.  She made it from scratch and our childhood memories make it our ultimate ‘comfort food’. 

Since Mom died in 2005, we’ve been without her cream of tomato soup or the recipe.  That’s why sister texted the message—does anyone have Mom’s cream of tomato soup recipe?  No.  We all started digging around in our recipes and I found one recipe.  Was it?  Could it be Mom’s?  I quickly typed the ingredients and instructions with the question:  is this Mom’s recipe?  It was not designated as such in my family cookbook.  Peggy cooked it and sure enough, that simple, from-scratch-recipe is Mom’s original recipe.  She responded, “that’s it.  I feel very comfortable and loved.”  

We have found our family treasure.  Some treasures do not involve money or jewels.  Sometimes, our biggest treasures involve memories of our mother’s love and a bowl of soup.