Seasonings

On the evening of the funeral visitation and also on the day of the funeral, people would of course greet us. Some of the people hadn't seen us Grandchildren in many years, so they were trying to figure out who was who. My sister Debi kept announcing that she was the YOUNGEST or she'd say "I'm only 34" (I thought stating our ages ended when we quit adding in the 1/2s to it. You know...7 & 1/2, 18 & 1/2, etc). She would then point to me and say "She's the OLDEST". I didn't quite think that was necessary. I mean, come on, there are 10 years between us, and no matter how young I might want to think I look, there is no way I look the same age as someone 10 yrs younger than me. It'd be great if I did, but that's not gonna happen.

My dad, who I think was trying (?) to be helpful started saying "She's the seasoned one" when referring to me. I kind of did the cocked head thing like dogs do when I attempt to sing and thought to myself "Seasoned? What the heck does that mean?" Sooooo, since I'm always yearning to learn new things, I decided to do some investigating. Here's what I came up with when trying to figure out if I was a seasoning and if so, which one:

ALLSPICE Sweet spice of Caribbean origin - hhhmmm, yea, I'm not from the Caribbean, so I'm pretty sure I'm not allspice.
ANISE used as a flavoring in liqueurs. While I'll have an occasional drink, I'm not much of a drinking coneseour, so I'm guessing I'm not anise.
BAY LEAVES A pungent flavor. Not totally sure what pungent meant, I looked it up. "Strong and Sharp" is bascially what it said in the dictionary. I consider myself both of those...sometimes, but not always. Nah, I'm not bay leaves.
CAPERS small buds of a shrub grown in the Mediterranean. Again, not born there, so I'm not this seasoning either.
CARAWAY a spicy smell and aromatic taste. Use in cakes, breads, and sauerkraut. I'm not spicy, but found one thing interesting. Does anyone else find it wierd to think of using the same spice in two totally different things like cake and sauerkraut?
CINNAMON Popular sweet spice for flavoring baked goods. Ok, I'm not popular, I'm not always very sweet AND I can't cook baked items. Yep, I'm definitely NOT cinnamon.
GINGER a fresh, pungent root sold fresh, dried or ground. It is used as a confection or condiment. There's that word "pungent" again, although this can be used in a variety of ways, and I do like variety. We'll have to see what other ones might fit me better.
MINT The most common commercial types of mint are spearmint and peppermint. Minty toothpastes or lozenges make my tongue burn, so I'm not mint. Nope, definitely not mint. Yuck!
PARSLEY A low growing member of the celery family. You know...I AM the shortest, so I guess that could make me the low growing member of my family.
SESAME SEEDS Versatile annual with sweet, nutty flavor used in appetizers, breads, meats and vegetables. hhhmmm...I'm sweet, nutty and versatile. Could this be the one?
THYME Fragrant, clean-tasting. While I do use perfume regularly so I know I'm fragrant, I'm just not sure how clean I taste. Not sure I want to know either.

So, let's see...I believe we have found our winner. Sesame Seeds. I'm sweet, nutty & I am versatile. And, since I'm still around year after year, I guess that also qualifies me as an annual.

Yep, the jury is in....I'm Sesame Seeds.

I can see me now at all the gathering of different seasonings. I'll be wearing a "Hello My Name Is" sticky name tag and in the square will be written the words " Dena & I am Sesame Seeds".