Lucia

Christmas at my grandfather's always involved a chicken relleno and russian potato salad. All made by Lucia. She started as my uncle's nanny over fifty years ago. Eventually moving on to become the family cook. As the the years passed, she took over running the house. She was my grandfather's loyal companion. A wife and numerous lady 'friends' had come and gone in grandpa's life. Four house moves. Grandchildren born. In-laws passed. Through sickness and his eventual death on Christmas eve in 1995, she was there. Through the ups and downs (and sometimes bizarre happenings) of our lives, C and I knew that grandpa's house would always be the same. There was nothing particularly extraordinary about going to grandpa's. It was in fact, rather mundane. But it was this that made it special. There were no surprises. We knew what ice cream there was in the freezer. We knew what brand of shampoo was in the shower. We knew that if Lucia cooked roast beef today, it would taste and look exactly the same next week. Next month. Or next year. Grandpa and Lucia were the constants in our ever changing lives. Three days ago, in the early morning of December 23 Lucia had a stroke. She lies in a hospital bed unable to speak. We'll know more in the next few days. Coincidentally, we had chicken relleno (from me) and russian potato salad (from C) for our Christmas eve dinner. It wasn't the same.