Christmas Mourning

No, that is not a spelling error.  This year many friends (myself included) are spending their first Christmas without a beloved someone; their child, their fathers, their mothers, their husbands...
Everyone grieves in their own way...some fill their time with helping others, some are so stricken that they can hardly get up in the morning.  
Those of us who are several years into the mourning are still facing a few tears, even now.  For me, the loss of my father is the grief that so easily besets me.  Although he passed away more than a decade ago, I still find myself in tears...not for extensive periods of time, but just a few minutes when I recall some pleasant memory--of which I have many.
One way we remember family members is to prepare one of their favorite foods.  For my dad, he always wanted us to make "Elf Cakes" (his name for a soft oatmeal cookie) especially at Christmas.  I couldn't bear the thought of making them for at least three years after he passed away...and the first time I brought out the recipe and made them I sobbed the whole way through the process.  I can make them now, without tears, and when I eat them, I think of my dad with every bite and what wonderful times we shared.  Fishing, collecting wild edibles, teaching classes about wild edibles at the library or to Scout troupes, gardening, making "lemon fudge"--a culinary failure of the highest degree, but brought us months of laughter over it.  
My dad often asked me to prepare a sandwich for him when I was a teen.  He would say something like--"Make me a ham sandwich?"  And my response was always "Poof! You are a ham sandwich!", while making "magic" motions in the air.  (Then I would play the part of the dutiful daughter and prepare the sandwich for him--and we always laughed about it.)
My grandfather was the person who would make penuche fudge (made with brown sugar), so when I make that I fondly remember him standing in the kitchen at the stove, stirring and stirring.  (I don't need the calories, so I don't make it often, but I really think I can remember him better while delighting in this confection.)
My husband's grandmother made Tallarini (her version of it) and whenever we eat that, it is a family thing.  
Recipes are a nice way to remember loved ones.  Sometimes we don't even have to prepare the recipe, but everyone in the family HAS the recipe for Aunt Mildred's Vinegar candy.  
My brother, still living, has a recipe that is assigned to him...Fresh Orange Cake.  Whenever I make that, I think of him.  
Your recipe cards or books may hold a treasure trove of memories.  It is a good way to keep that person "alive" to those who come after...children and grandchildren and great grandchildren are likely to pay more attention to Grandpa's recipe for penuche than just some random recipe.  
We seem to have lost our own family histories...reviving and passing on family recipes is a fun way to tell family stories and keep our history alive.