Visiting Teta Fatima

When we lived here in 2002, our landlady took us in as her own. She cooked treats for us and had our kids over to play with her grandchildren and lavished attention on our mothers when they came to visit and treated us as if we were another set of her family. We love her to bits.

So, the day after all our kids had arrived, we went to visit her. She had all her grandchildren come and, with her daughter's help, cooked us a huge meal. They made us homemade pita--so much more wonderful than even the best restaurant pita.

In venerable Bosnian tradition, we all sat on couches and they made the dinner table by placing a large round beaten copper top on top of the coffee table. Fatima's husband's ancestors, who were coppersmiths, made the copper tabletop 200 years ago and it has been passed down, oldest son to oldest son ever since. The day after our dinner we admired one much like it in the City Museum in town. The copper top was, of course, covered with a beautifully embroidered tablecloth.

Fatima showed our children the trees she had helped them plant in her garden all those years ago. They've grown fast but our kids--and her grandchildren!--have grown even faster.

We feel so lucky to have an extra Bosnian grandma!