1 PM dinner's at "Jaja's" (Dziadek's) house. Boiled canned ham. The same conversation, every time.

Great-Aunt Allie dishes from the serving plate, turns and asks "This ham looks nice, Ed. Is it the Krakus?"

Jaja sips beer from his cartoon-covered miniature Dixie cup and shakes his head. "Nope. Just Stop & Shop. Cheaper, but you can't tell the difference."

"Well I sure can't. It really seems like the Krakus to me. Doesn't it look just like the Krakus, Dot?"

"I can't tell the difference."

"Just Stop & Shop."

Boiled ham with salt. Boiled potatoes with salt and margarine. Canned peas or corn (never both). Little Dixie cups with full of apple juice (also Stop & Shop--"Cheaper than the Motts, but you can't tell the difference.") to match my grandfather's beer. Sliced Sunbeam bread in a big white stack, with margarine that's nice and soft because it's been sitting out in a butter dish all day. Surprised that Mary Price is there, since she usually comes on turkey holidays, not ham. Wondering how old she is. She seemed to be 100, but she was the only person at the table who hugged you without looking embarrassed. A whole table of people eating in perfect Polish silence, but not the least bit uncomfortable.

These memories courtesy of Kate Danley's blog post. I don't know what it was that kicked it off. Maybe communion. Maybe the Sprite and Grenadine. But thanks. Jaja would approve. He's just be silent about it. :)