Intentional Care
The Lasting Gift My Grandfather Left Behind
I can distinctly remember walking into my grandfather’s house as a kid and smelling his Italian gravy, as he would call it.
That smell wafting through the house as we walked in the front door, through the front room, and into his kitchen off to the left. It was easy to track down the source of the smell... spaghetti sauce that had been going since 5 a.m.
We would get there at two, after church. We would have to wait for at least an hour to enjoy the spaghetti because the first course was salad. Not a salad that was bagged and dumped into a bowl already completed... iceberg lettuce, carrots, purple cabbage, cucumbers. All intentionally chopped into bite-sized pieces, added to a big plastic bowl, and drenched with Italian dressing.
My grandfather was a big man. I used to jump up in his lap and share his salad with him out of this big mixing bowl.
After the salad course was done, I barely remember inhaling mounds of spaghetti. I was definitely not appreciating the hours of work he had put in, considering the speed of my consumption. But this is how the memory of my grandfather lives in me today.
This was the gift that he gave me that I now get to share with other people.
When you put time and effort into cooking for someone, they get to feel special, and seen, and anticipated.
When he would tell us what time he was awake to start the sauce, I remember thinking, “Wow, he loves us enough to think about us before we even thought about being here.”
I may have rushed through eating the spaghetti, but the most important sentiment was received.
He thought I was special.
He wanted me to enjoy this food that he had prepared.
He looked forward to spending time with me.
I can’t say that I reconciled all of those thoughts and emotions properly in my mind at the time... but those sentiments are alive and well in me today.
This is why I cook for people.
This is what sparks my creativity when it comes to coming up with a new recipe that someone might enjoy. Or hearing that someone likes a certain dessert and learning how to make it.
Intentional care.
That’s all it really is.
I’m so grateful that my grandfather taught me this... decades ago.
I still miss my grandfather. I have not had a male role model as impactful and as loving as him since I lost him on my birthday 30 years ago.
But he lives on in me...
And I think he would be very proud of how many people have been touched by the care of cooking.
Thank you for Liking, SHAREing and Supporting! 🫶🏽