Chicken Soup Comfort

     Chicken soup has long been touted as the ultimate cure-all for the common cold. Said to have that mysterious "something" scientists have forever tried to isolate, it has graced the cover of many a magazine, and been the subject of many a debate. Controversy aside, I love chicken soup!
     Let me tell you why.

     Yesterday, as my daughter and I were eating the last of our reheated chicken soup, it suddenly occurred to me what I could slice about  tomorrow- oh yes - chicken soup! We love chicken soup in our family. It's a happy feature at the dinner table; the gathering point for us all despite our demanding schedules.

     Once, my former teammate and I were planning a lesson, and we wanted to have the students show their knowledge of sequence. My teammate suggested chicken soup as a task. I kind of frowned.
     "Do you really think they could handle that?" I asked.
     "Sure, why not?" she replied.
     "Well, there are a lot of steps to remember for making chicken soup," I said.
     "No, there are not," she said, looking at me questioningly.
     "Umm...well first you need to get the vegetables for the stock and the chicken, put them in a big pot, make sure the livers and giblets are out of the chicken, put it the pot and fill it with water. Then you have to put in the herbs. I'd include a bay leaf or two, peppercorns..." and at this point my teammate burst out laughing.
      "I don't think so! All you have to do is get a pot out, take the can out of the cupboard, get a can opener to open it, pour it in the pot and heat it up!"
     We both had a good laugh over our conflicting ideas about how to make chicken soup. (It occurs to me this would be a good point of view lesson. But, I digress.) Our chicken soup discussion is one of my fond memories of our working together.
     The chicken soup I make is my mom's recipe. Of course. My mom would make it for us often, however, I never really learned until I was married with a family of my own. She graciously wrote down the recipe and shared her expertise with me the first couple of times I made it myself. The recipe itself it especially poignant, as it's in her handwriting.
     You see, nowadays, my mom can't make chicken soup anymore. She has Parkinson's. So, I make chicken soup for her, and she loves it just as much. When she compliments me I always tell her that it's all thanks to her. Chicken soup just about touches upon every emotion I have, and evokes great memories. It's comfort food.
     Oh - and just to be on the safe side, when a member of my family is sick, I always make chicken soup!