Ash Wednesday Tradition

Today is Ash Wednesday and I cooked hot dogs for dinner. 

I know, you are confused -- you aren't supposed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday. 

There's a backstory, you can read it the whole thing in this post from 2011. 

The short version is Paul's Catholic, gives up meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent. I'm Protestant and that isn't our practice. When Paul and I were dating he bowled on Wednesday nights. He'd go right from work and I would meet him there. His Dad, Joe, would come watch, faithfully, every week. During the second game, I'd go order us dinner.

That night Paul probably had a fish sandwich, but I, I ordered my usual - "the split." That was a hot dog and french fries.

Joe was obviously bothered by the fact that I was enjoying that hot dog. Months later, when we were telling Paul's mom about that night she said "He wasn't mad that you were eating it, he was mad that he COULDN'T" 

We laughed so hard. 

Then it just sort of became a thing - mostly after he passed. When the kids were little, I would load them up and take them to the snack bar at the bowling alley and we'd order hot dogs and french fries. I'd tell them about that night and other funny stories about him. They never knew him, he died in December of 2005 and Brooke arrived in September of 2006. 

Tonight, I had a meeting at 7 and Kristen stayed after school. There wasn't time to go out, but there was time to have hot dogs and remember Grandpa Joe. 

So tonight is Ash Wednesday and we had hot dogs for dinner and I am smiling for all the happy times I shared with my father in law. 

For the record, Paul had cheese pizza.

Joe Romanski throwing out the first pitch