Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Shop, cook, eat, drink, post, repeat.
 
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:56 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:12 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:18 pm
Posts: 562
Location: Winchester, MA
I wrote this awhile ago for a local newspaper -- it's true and whenever anyone tells me they get overwhelmed with cooking at this time of year, I think of this. I thought I'd share it as a Thanksgiving gift:

Several years ago, standing on the sidelines at one of my son's soccer games, I met a new woman in town. Besides her teenage son, who was my son's age, I found out the usual basics. She had two other children and had given up a career to stay at home to enjoy the children and family - but I didn't find out much else. A little later on I needed some help with a class project and she called to offer her help. We didn't really get to know each other beyond these meetings; she was more of an acquaintance.

So I missed out on hearing until quite late that she had developed cancer and, despite all of the treatments, was now at home in a hospice capacity. As so often happens a close friend had arranged a meal pool - people offering to cook meals 2 or 3 times a week and deliver them so the family would not be so reliant on take-out. Well, not only had she done me a favor but, as a cancer survivor, I could more than empathize with her condition. So offering to cook a meal didn't even require a second thought.

I didn't know much about her family, their tastes, any allergies, etc. and the meal had to be dropped off early, be reheatable, and be in a disposable container. Since I'm a great believer in comfort food I decided on a meat loaf, baked some corn muffins, prepped a salad, and dropped it off. It took maybe an extra ten minutes since I'd made the same meal for my own family, and cost - what - $6.00? I didn't really think about it and didn't even tell my family.

So my son, Sean, was more than surprised when her son grabbed him in the high school and said, without preamble, "Do you always eat that great every night?" After he explained a little Sean said, in essence, "yeah, that was pretty typical" and came home and told me - making me feel pretty darn good.

But what made me feel incredible was the phone call I received three weeks later - one week after she died. It was from the friend who had arranged the pool asking me for the recipe. It turned out that all of the family had liked the meat loaf so much that they had gone up to their mother's room and encouraged her to eat a few bites. She did, and it turned out to be the last meal the family ever shared together. Her mother wanted the recipe as a family heirloom.

Happy thanksgiving everyone -- and take pleasure in your friends, your family, and the incredible gift you've been given to be able to feed them well and with love.

_________________
Lindsay


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:37 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:21 am
Posts: 1403
Location: Six Shooter Junction, Texas
Thank you so very much for sharing Lindsay, You are blessed with a wonderful memory as well as a story, I bet you never eat meatloaf without fondly thinking of this.

I do hope that we all will take the time this year and all years to look past the stress and focus on just how much we have to be truly thankful for...there is much. :!:

For me and mine...we are blessed beyond measure.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

_________________
To do is to be [Descartes] To be is to do [Voltaire] Do be do be do [Sinatra].


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 2:39 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:58 am
Posts: 410
Location: Florida Gulf Coast
....wiping eyes dry.....

What a great story. Thanks for letting us in on something so special.

_________________
In our house, dog hair is a condiment.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:27 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:54 pm
Posts: 1165
Location: New York
Beautiful story Lindsay. Thank you for sharing.
Nance


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 5:39 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:37 pm
Posts: 3404
Location: Telluride, CO
Wonderful story Lindsay...thanks for sharing.

Amy


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:44 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:01 am
Posts: 1287
Location: Denver
Thanks Lindsay...I love the story. I have been making soup every week for the last few months for a friend whose husband is going through chemo and radiation. He is the cook in the family, so they have been missing out on home cooked food. Like your story, the good feeling I get everytime I talk to both of them far out weighs the cost and time to make the soups. It also reminds me to be thankful for my health.
Have a great Thanksgiving,
Ilene

_________________
Ilene


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:26 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:48 am
Posts: 818
Location: Near Ithaca, NY
Thank you for posting this... you're right. "Overwhelmed" is an over used word. It can be so much worse.

_________________
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. - James Beard


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:31 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:41 pm
Posts: 1884
Location: Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
KSyrahSyrah wrote:
Thank you for posting this... you're right. "Overwhelmed" is an over used word. It can be so much worse.


We went to a funeral home tonight of a hockey friend, boys the same age as mine, who died a month after a cancer diagnosis. We hugged ours a little harder tonight.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:20 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:03 pm
Posts: 1149
Hey, can we get that recipe for meatloaf?


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Thanksgiving Story
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:21 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:34 pm
Posts: 2011
I want to add my thanks too Lindsay. Sharing of food is so much more powerful than it seems on the surface. Our neighbor's 4 year old daughter died about 9 years ago. Before that we were friendly and my daughter was very good friends with both their children. When Caryn died I fed them. I offered to bring the food to them but they wanted to eat with us and so they did. Like Lindsay I concentrated on warming comfort food. We now have such a special bond with that family. They have an 8 year old son now and he is our godchild. We also spend every Christmas Eve with them which is very special as that is when the Swiss celebrate Christmas and it is usually only family. This is not a "food" family. They are not very interested in it and I am being generous if I call their cooking mediocre. Still the act of feeding them on that difficult occasion and them feeding us on their sacred day is somehow life defining. I think I somehow get caught up in the wow factor of cooking and do take a lot of pride in my successes. How much more amazing is it though how the act of bringing people together for a meal can have such deep meaning. That is what is overwhelming.

Mary

PS Hell yes I want that meat loaf recipe too.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Template made by DEVPPL/ThatBigForum