My Family, Mom, Dad, And Uncle Bud

If you've been reading this site for any length of time, you know that I took a trip out to California in March to visit my mom, as her health was beginning to fail.

After that trip my mom got worse and went in to the hospital for surgery. That was the middle of March.

By the middle of May she was still in the hospital and she needed another surgery. The prognosis wasn't good. My wife and I literally packed inside of 20-minutes, threw our bags in the car, loaded up the dogs, and left for California.

In my blog post on June 5th 2015 I said that I was absent and would explain that absence later.

This Has Been A Very Difficult Year Of Losses For Me

Mom

Well we drove back to California, in May, because my mom had to have surgery. It is with a great deal of sadness that I am writing this. My mom's health wasn't great and the surgery was more than her body could bear.

She passed away on May 29th at 3:40 AM, I was by her side when she peacefully went.

Dad

At the end of August 2014 I flew out to Oregon because my dad's health was failing fast. I spent 5 days with him before I had to head home. I lost my father on September 2nd 2014.

I have felt nothing but guilt about leaving before my father passed away. I truly believe that when a person is going to die there should be someone they love standing by their side.

Uncle Bud

In April 2014, I drove out to California to visit my Uncle Bud, my mom's brother.

He was in the hospital. While I was there Uncle Bud asked me to make dinner for him. He said he wanted Italian food. He didn't care what as long as it was Italian. I made papperdelle pasta with Bolognese sauce and Italian bread. He loved it.

We lost Uncle Bud in April 2014.

Coping With Loss

It is a very sad and chilling revelation when you realize that you no longer have parents.

My wife is older than I am and she lost her parents before I did. She lost her father 30 years ago and her mom one year ago. She told me, losing her parents 30-years apart was difficult enough, she can't imagine how hard it is to lose both parents in such a short span of time.

I can only imagine how hard it must be for someone that loses their parents together, especially if they go before their time.

To Honor My Family

I suppose it's the Italian in me that brings me to this conclusion, the best way I can think of to honor my family, cherish their memories and celebrate their lives is through food.

My mom has a very large collection of cookbooks that she used, but she had one in particular that she cherished above all the others. It is one of those binders that is designed to create a personal recipe collection. While I was visiting my mom in March I decided I was going to make a printed and bound cookbook out of it and give it to her as a present, after the surgery.

Since I can no longer give my mom the cookbook, instead, I am going to make all of the recipes, as they are written, photograph them, and publish the cookbook. These were the recipes that my mom really cherished and I want my family to have them.

I am going to include the recipe that was my dad's favorite recipe, as well as my dad's favorite recipe that my family made, which just so happens to be my uncle Bud's all time favorite recipe, gnocchi.

I also want to include my mom's all time favorite recipe, even though that recipe isn't contained in my mom's cookbook. I am going to include it with the others.

I guess, I feel like, so long as these recipes live on in other peoples kitchens somehow their memory will be preserved.