"Did you eat?" "Have you eaten?" "You really should eat something." You hear people ask you this all the time when you are going through a crisis. Its ironic. On a regular night if you are starving in the middle of the night you end up spreading cream cheese on a freezer-burned toaster waffle. But when there is a death in the family people you haven't seen in years feel the need to bring you a casserole.
I know they just want to help. There's really nothing else that can be done to show their emotions. I remember in high school when my mother was in the hospital and my friend Jenifer brought over a tray of lasagna. I thought what is this for? My dad did most of the cooking. I actually am going to eat better because my mom got sick. That's weird. What has to happen to my family to get gas for my car?
The kind of food you get is of course comfort food. The name implies it doesn't it? Desserts, sandwiches and trays and endless trays of pasta. Nobody ever tries to comfort you with a salad and Kale chips do they? No way. I don't care if they do call it a bed of lettuce. It's not comfort food.
So far since my father passed I've gotten a steak dinner, pizza, stromboli, cookies, cheese, crackers and wine. If you're in the neighborhood you should stop over. You're so thin. You should eat. "What am I going to do with all this food? Eh?"