The Walking Bread

Last week David and I had the honor of attending a special dinner at my dear friend Katerina's house. For those of you who aren't familiar with Kate, she joined the UT doctoral program last year and was seven months pregnant. Kate is from Macedonia, and along with her partner and two-year-old daughter, they journeyed to Knoxville in August 2007. Her partner, Iso, went back to Macedonia a month later for a short time since he was in charge of an online publication there and had to tie up some loose ends. Katerina's parents flew to Knoxville to help her with the new arrival.

Since her partner wasn't here for the birth, and her parents do not speak English, she asked me to share in one of the most miraculous moments of her life (not to mention mine)...the birth of her baby boy. I was in the delivery room when Aljosha (pronounced Alli-osh-a in English) was born, and I was the first one to hold him after the nurse wrapped him in what seemed like hundreds of blankets. This all happened October 29, 2007.





Since Aljosha is approaching one year, it's no surprise that he's been walking, so Katerina invited us over for a special event.


Katerina's mom is back in Knoxville and prepared a special bread along with a delicious meal. There is a Macedonian tradition that once a baby starts walking, a bread is made and placed on a stool covered by a towel. Then various items representing what the child could grow up to be are placed on top. Items ranging from a book, pen, money, bread, wrench, etc. were on Aljosha's bread with the idea being that he could become a scholar, someone who works in an office, a banker, chef, or someone who works with his hands a lot.






They set Aljosha down in front of the stool, and whatever item he walks to on the stool and picks up represents what profession he will pursue. He picked up a piece of bread and starting eating it instantly. It was so cute. We're not sure if he'll actually become a chef or if he was just hungry at that moment since he'd recently woken up from a nap.






The other part of the tradition is that guests take a piece of the bread and run around the house, so Aljosha will always be sturdy in his step. Since I was running, I didn't have a chance to take any photos!



It was a great evening, and one I'm so glad we could be a part of in his life. He's grown so much since I first held him almost one year ago and so has his big sister Sara.