I don’t think I even knew what Lent was until I was well into elementary school, and I would never even think about it now except that 1) Ed was raised Catholic 2) I live in a largely Hispanic state 3) Mardi Gras is pretty big on the Gulf Coast and 4) Facebook.

When I first met Ed, he did keep the tradition of giving something up for Lent. That’s how he had quit smoking a few years before I met him in fact. By the time I met him, he traditionally gave up alcohol for Lent. Or so he said. The first year I knew him, he gave up alcohol for a bit, then came up with some excuse to drink. The second year, he gave up alcohol for one night, and then we went out to an Italian restaurant where two priests were having wine with dinner, and he decided that if the priests were drinking, he could have wine, too. After that, he seemed to drink more than he usually does, and I proposed that Lent would henceforth be known as “Lentfest”. He has not given up alcohol for Lent since (I should hasten to point out though that when he gives up alcohol for dieting reasons, he has no problems whatsoever).

A few Facebook friends have mentioned what they are giving up for Lent today. My favorite is a Cajun friend from Lafayette, Louisiana, who says he is giving up his New Year’s resolutions.

A Mexican friend who is always hardcore is giving up all of her favorite things: candy, red meat, soda, and Chinese food. Which reminded me of a story she told me years ago; she listed all of the things she had given up, including tortillas. I said well, tortillas, I love them but I could go six weeks without eating them. And she said “No Susan, you don’t understand. We eat tortillas with every meal. The other night we ordered takeout Chinese food, and I heard the microwave going, and I said “Papa, why do you have the microwave going, the food is hot?”  And he said “I am heating up the tortillas.”