Brothers and sisters get together, in addition to talking about the situation of each family in a year, your parents, my family is short, whose son graduated from college and found a good job, and whose daughter found a boyfriend. The most talked about topic is the carefree and happy time when parents are alive.
Our home is in the countryside. Because my father worked in the company for many years, my mother brought up five brothers and sisters. Moreover, after finishing high school or junior high school, I left home to help my mother do something, go to other places to study or take part in work, and let my mother stay at home all the year round, which is very tired.
Especially around the Spring Festival every year, it is the most tiring time for my mother. When I was a child, before the Spring Festival, my mother would prepare a new set of clothes, hats, shoes and socks for each of us. During the winter vacation, everyone is at home. She took us to buy cloth, and then let the tailor make clothes at home or send them directly to the tailor's shop. All the new (cotton) shoes we wear are made by her old man, burning the midnight oil.
On New Year's Eve, after taking a bath, our brothers and sisters can put on their new coats, hats, shoes and socks made by their mothers. Under the living conditions at that time, it was the only time in a year to put on new clothes, which really made people feel brand-new.
The cotton shoes made by my mother are not only comfortable and warm, but also beautiful in appearance, and everyone likes them very much. After we took part in the work, we also wore her cotton shoes at home in winter, especially me, who worked overtime at night in winter, wearing my mother's cotton shoes was particularly warm. When we got married, my mother also made a pair for my wife. My wife has always loved fashion, especially the earth cotton shoes made by my mother. After wearing them for several years, she was unwilling to throw them away.
Before the Spring Festival every year, my mother prepares food for the whole family and the guests during the Spring Festival. Make a few every year. One is to make tofu. With the help of brothers and sisters, we have to be busy for at least one day. Prepare soybeans and soak them at night. The next morning, I began to grind soybean milk, and then went through a series of processes until the next morning, and then fried tofu. Don't be busy most of the day.
When we were not married, it was usually enough to make a set of tofu. After we get married, my mother will prepare some fried tofu for us to take home, so it will take time to do one or two sets.
The second is to make glutinous rice Baba. Almost every year. It usually takes a whole day to do more at a time. Grinding in the morning, cooking and steaming in the afternoon, sometimes it can be completely steamed after dinner. Mother will naturally consider bringing one of our married brothers and sisters home.
The third kind is fried yellowbird meat. This is the same food in the first bowl of a popular traditional recipe in our hometown. It is made of pork belly, flour, glutinous rice flour, etc. Then fry it. Yellowbird meat is crispy and delicious, and it is also a favorite on the Spring Festival table. Mother's fried yellowbird meat is usually arranged at New Year's Eve.
When I was a child, there was no electricity, TV and Spring Festival Gala programs in my hometown. My "Spring Festival Evening" is that our brothers and sisters help stir-fry yellowbird meat. We can eat it first when it is fried. The fried yellowbird meat burns firewood, so everyone can keep warm by the fire. The whole family is surrounded by their mother. It feels good to be round.
Fourth, if pigs are killed at home, mother will be busy distributing some wax products such as pork or offal and roasted bacon to relatives for a day or two.
Because there were too many things before the Spring Festival, our brothers and sisters could only do some auxiliary things when they were young. My mother is the only one in the family. My mother is too busy every day, often working late into the night. A few days after the Spring Festival, we will be busy receiving relatives and friends from all walks of life who come to pay New Year greetings, and at the same time, we will arrange for brothers and sisters to go to relatives' homes separately to pay New Year greetings.
Every time our brothers and sisters get married and go home for New Year or New Year's greetings, when they leave, my mother will prepare something for our family. They are always busy and have little leisure.
Until my father died, our brothers and sisters discussed that we couldn't keep our mother busy any more, and decided that from the beginning, our mother would take turns to visit our five brothers and sisters' homes and others would pay New Year greetings to her. In this way, my mother retired from the position of housewife.
Unfortunately, my mother "retired" for less than two years and was admitted to the hospital because of illness. Because of a cerebral infarction, I can't take care of myself after discharge. So we rented a house in the county, hired a nanny to take care of her old man, and spent the last five years of her life.
Although all our brothers and sisters are married now, we all miss the days when our mother was alive. Mother's busy figure appears in our minds from time to time during the Spring Festival, especially the happy scene of reuniting with her family during the Spring Festival as a child. Therefore, every year during the Spring Festival, our brothers and sisters will get together, and because we can no longer see our mother's busy figure, we will talk about her life and miss her.