What’s food got to do with it?

If there is one thing I know, it’s food. While I am not going to give away how old I am-if my wrinkles aren’t talking neither am I-but let’s say that I have spent nearly twenty years of my life working in restaurants compared to a rounded out eight in a mortuary. However there was one correlation I saw pretty early on, and that was our desire-nay our need-to gather and to eat. 

People always think it’s silly but I really believe running a restaurant and a mortuary are essentially the same thing;  because ultimately we are talking about hospitality. Both are establishments for the weary to come in and find a place to gather and rest, to be present and fill themselves metaphorically and literally. And, while there is no food during a funeral, there is always food after it. 

The kind of food served, much like the kind restaurant you visit, depends on various factors like tradition, locale, or the-ummmm-contributing chefs. But I believe that the essence is the same. The food is made with love and created in hopes to bring joy and peace. Ok! Ok! I know this is a super sappy little piece but it’s true. Every funeral I work where I think to myself that I am simply just trying to find a connection where there is none, I will all of a sudden hear someone exclaim that, “Peggy just loved making that fruit and marshmallow dip,” or that, “nobody and I mean nobody made enchiladas like my abuelita.” I even found myself wrapped up in arrangement call just the other day that ended with my family saying that after they were done they were going to  just sit in the car and eat some donuts because that’s what the moment called for, because yes, donuts absolutely make things better, even if just for a little while.

So you see, why I’m stuck. Is this a food blog? Is it a grief blog? Is it a deathcare blog? After two years I still don’t know.

But I know this, it’s existence helps me. I know that for me, cooking is integral to dealing with being alive, and cooking helps me deal with my job as a funeral director.

I know that when I cook and share it, either in person or online it inspires others to cook.

I know that when other people cook I inevitably get messages about the joy it brought them, which honestly makes me incredibly happy.

So why am I here? I don’t know. Great sales pitch right? All I know is that I know food. And I definitely know death. And that maybe the point of this is how I explore finding peace with the fact that one day someone will say they loved that one recipe I made. And maybe for you it’s not cooking, it’s ceramics, or fuckind badmitton I don’t know. But I think the point to this is that if you want come here you can peek into my world, and you can see how I cope with my own grief and the grief of others, through my writing, and my stomach.