Happy holidays and best wishes
Every family, every religion, every community has traditions that are special to them. My favorite family tradition is La Festa Dei Sette Pesci (The Feast of Seven Fish). It is a Southern Italian tradition, where on Christmas Eve the entire family gets together and has a meal that must include at least seven types of fish. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat on the eve of a feast day and the number seven possibly from the seven sacraments.
As you know, I come for a large Italian family and we have been together every Christmas Eve of my life. We start at the home of my cousins for a “High Noon” celebration where we toast all of our dead relatives, all the live older relatives and any family accomplishments for that year. Then, we all return to our homes and begin preparation for our dinners. My children have spent every Christmas holiday of their lives with my family. They have never not been together with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Not surprising, my mother is the capo (chief) of the operation. Her kitchen is small, but we manage to put together a feast for a minimum of 25-30 people every year—calamari, shrimp, clams, oysters, scallops, smelts, sardines are all on the menu prepared many different ways. After dinner we enjoy all the Italian Christmas pastries and cookies, then we visit the homes of each of our aunts and uncles where we must at least try all of their goodies. We have never missed a holiday together, we have traveled in snow, rain and the dark of night. It is a truly special much loved family tradition.
So, my hope is that during this school break you are enjoying some downtime, as well as spending time with family and friends. To all, Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a joyous and prosperous New Year.
Clara M. Spatafore D.D.S., M.S.
Interim Dean VCU School of Dentistry
Chair Department of Endodontics and Oral Diagnostic Sciences
Diplomate American Board of Endodontics