Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday. It is the day when, as Catholics, we celebrate, we feast, and we prepare our hearts for Ash Wednesday. It is a day that some take VERY seriously, and others simply allow it to be another Tuesday. Today is a day when we clear out our pantry of the sweets we will give up for the next 40 days, and many of us find ourselves heading to Confession to clear out the “gunk” of our sins. We prepare our hearts, minds, and homes for our journey with Christ through the desert.
How do you celebrate today? Do you take time to prepare for our journey to Easter? As care partners we rarely allow ourselves to celebrate, much less take time to indulge in a pancake meal for dinner. We are wrapped up in keeping someone else safe and comfortable. In the process of care, not only can we lose our ability to relax into a celebration, but we can lose that feeling of being seen, loved, and cared for, ourselves. Our journey through this upcoming Lent can feel like salt in a wound trying to heal, as the penitential season feels like daily life and something we live year-round.
About a year ago, I threw out to one of my Catholic creative groups an idea I had to start an artist-in-residence program. A response I received from someone showed me just how much the dementia journey is misunderstood. I had shared I wanted an artist who could help show the joy of the dementia journey, and the beauty of life as a care partner. Part of this person’s response included, “As a Catholic artist who is critical of art projects that always want to use artists to cover almost sad or dark themes…” It was off-putting at first, it showed how deep the stereotypes of dementia run in our world, and not just here in the United States, but across the globe. We fall into the trap of thinking that dementia eliminates the ability to live joyfully and that celebrations are reserved for the “well and normal.” We bring this weight with us into our Lenten seasons and forget to celebrate each Sunday, to rejoice on Easter Sunday, and that all of us can start to believe the false narrative of life with dementia. Our feelings are that we cannot celebrate Fat Tuesday, that we cannot throw up our arms and say, “Let’s have pancakes for dinner!” This Lent may we accept the invitation to explore the garden of dementia.
To enter into joy and beauty is not to negate the sorrow. To magnify a celebration is not to ignore the sadness. We do not cover up, but enter into the Both/And. The desert too has flowers.
As we feast in preparation for the fast, may we allow our hearts to rediscover beauty this Lent. May we take each Sunday as a moment for pancake dinners, each Friday for moments to offer up our sorrows and suffering so that we may draw closer to the Father, and may we take each of these 40 days to allow ourselves to be seen by Christ. He knows your suffering, your sorrow, your needs. Walk with Him, and not hide from Him. Just as we see those we care for, we too need to be seen. When the world may trip and fall, Christ sees us, cares for us, and reminds us of the beauty of life.
While I know pancakes are the traditional Fat Tuesday food, I much prefer waffles. Here is my riff on Dorie Greenspan’s Plan and Easy Waffles from her Waffles from Morning to Midnight cookbook, published in 2001, page 37.
Enjoy! If you make these waffles tonight or for some Sunday moment, let us know.
My Riff on Dorie Greenspan’s Plan and Easy Waffles
Serving: 4 Waffles
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1-2 Tablespoons Maple Cream (my “riff.” I love the Maple Dude brand)
1 Cup Milk (I use whole but also works with Skim)
1 Large Egg
Whatever you wish to top your waffles with and serve alongside.
Directions:
- Preheat and Prepare your waffle iron.
- Melt the butter; reserve.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl whisk together the milk and egg thoroughly.
- On LOW heat, add the milk and egg mixture to the warm melted butter.
- Add Maple Cream to milk, egg, and butter mixture and whisk until blended. (Note: I have found that when I reheat these ingredients it blends much easier. It may not be an ideal or perfect technique but it has worked for me.)
- Spoon batter into the waffle iron and prepare as directed in your waffle iron’s instructions.
- Serve hot, with your favorite warm beverage, fruit, eggs, or other sides and toppings.