The Bells of Bell's without Bell's

So this is what happened. My husband's great-great grandfather William G. Bell invented his original Spiced Seasoning in 1861. He was a Scottish-American (his mother was a Bruce). He built up his brand until it became a household name. He had the whole adventure going, big house on the hill, office in the South Building of Quincy Market, and at the end of his life, properties on Cape Cod and in Weymouth, Mass. His untimely death occurred on a random February day. Perhaps it was the influenza. He came home from work, on the train from downtown Boston to his house in Newton and was dead by Sunday.

His daughter and son-in-law got control of the business (isn't that an old but true story) and it was sold. The next generation lived out stunned lives and told stories of what had been.

And the family dwindled down to my father-in-law who had five children. His children have regenerated the family with a lively bunch of Ten Bells from the three sons who had children.

We are eating together tomorrow, all the cousins (save one who is in New Zealand this year).

Let me tell you what a room full of Bells is like. For those of you who have been to my house, well, you know how noisy it is. I expect non stop hilarity, for their uncle is a storyteller.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and if you use the ancestral powders in your recipes, consider that behind the yellow box is a saga. But in the end, it turned out well. The Bells who followed after the boom, had to dig up their own stories to carry on into the future.

The ones who carry the name today have the best part, I think. They have their stories and they have each other, and that is a great thing to think about at Thanksgiving time.