A client who is participating in a writing class shares her completed assignment.
I love that food is a forum for sharing and espressing love, connection and togetherness.
The role of food in my life – Lesson 4
It is hard to describe the role of food in my life when I have recently struggled with emotional eating, because I feel like I have abused its pure purposes of nourishing my body and providing energy and physical pleasure. However, the strongest role that food has played in my life has been about relating to people. Making food is a way of nourishing relationships for me.
My best memories about my family gatherings are when I helped my grandmother, mother, and aunts to make tamales. Everybody had a job; even my smallest cousin joined the party by spreading dough on the corn leaves. We did our tasks together gossiping, joking, and even discussing over the shores.
Soon after I met my husband I shared about my culture by making tostadas for him. We got to know each other better while we learned to make pies together. We got married with homey dreams of healthy meals prepared by us. When we had our babies, my world was shaken, but I almost always found time to make their food myself.
Last weekend, my friends joined my family for home-made waffles, my three and five year-old daughters helped me measure flour, sugar, and baking powder. They clumsily separated the yolks from the egg whites, added milk to the dry ingredients, and mixed everything. They were wearing messy aprons and big proud smiles. My heart was content because the waffles main ingredient was love.
E. W.