The Therapeutic Value Of A Macaroni Salad

     It might seem questionable as to the therapeutic value of preparing a macaroni salad.  But there is, indeed, something therapeutic about whipping up this warm weather favorite--at least for me.

I'm preparing this pasta dish for a Memorial Day hot dogs-on-the-grill and plate-to-pass picnic at the apartment complex where I live.  I'm making more than enough for the 50-some residents expected--so as to allow for seconds and take-home containers.  It's the same recipe I've seen used, and the same salad I've happily devoured,  for more than half a century.

For me, and I believe countless others,, Memorial Day, like most other holidays, can be bittersweet.  There's the fun and the joy of mixing and mingling with those we like and love in the present.   But there's also that occasional feeling of sadness that comes over us when we think of  family and friends with whom we shared this special time in the past, but who are with us now only in spirit.

We miss them.  But anything we do that recalls the happy moments of Memorial Days past can have a healing effect.  And that's what my macaroni salad does for me.

It turns the ache of sadly missing them into the joy of remembering them.   All from macaroni salads, past to present.