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| Aunty Branca (front) places dad's favourite dish samarachi koddi for the remembrance dinner. |
-Brian Mendonca
With COVID on the backfoot we decided it was high time the family meet up. Dad's birthday suggested itself and after 6 p.m. Mass offered for his soul at Don Bosco, Panjim the family met up at our place in Porvorim, Goa.
Having aunty Branca with us was very special. She is my mother's brother's wife and the oldest surviving relation of ours. We organized a cab for her to pick her up and drop her to the ancestral house at Gaunsavaddo, Mapusa. Mummy lived in that house and we are hugely indebted to the fact that it still stands.
Aunty lives in the large house with her cats who keep her company. She is ever ready to be with us and always gives us her blessings. We tried to reach her during the pandemic but for some reason we could not get through on the phone. So when I called to invite her for the 14th she said in her typical drawl, 'No sign of you. Did not worry if I was living or dead.' The admonishment was pertinent since she is all of 76.
Aunty is not on WhatsApp and SMS is beyond her. Thankfully she has a mobile phone and a LAN as well when I last called.
She found the samarachi koddi made by Chef Peter of O Coqueiro fame, delicious. She was delighted when Queenie gave her some of it, with Goa rice to take home.
Pic taken by Brian Mendonca on dad's birth anniversary on 14 September 2022. Updated 24/9/22
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