Back to the land of the living

I feel a little like the family in that famous Jewish folk tale once the ckickens and the cows and the goats were out of the house.

Things are far quieter.

My community does death well. We feed mourners. So all week, beautiful comfort food arrived to give us sustenance and comfort. The food people cooked for us wasn't flashy trendy food.

One of the nights of the shiva my dear friend Elisheva told me about a stressful moment in her life. Her husband decided to make things better. he took Elisheva to a diner and instructed to cook to make Elisheva soft eggs made with lots of butter. She said that the apple cake she made me was the cake equivalent of soft eggs. Elisheva can make seriously fancy cakes.The apple cake was truly soft eggs with lots of butter. You put that cake in your mouth and knew that someone really cared about you.

Who knew that tea sandwiches served with strong tea could make one feel so loved and cared for? That a 1950's noodle kugel made with canned fruit cocktail could make me feel five years old again, as if a soft old lady with floppy upper arms were handing me that plate of kugel with a nice smile on her face.

It was so lovely to be cared for during out time of sadness. it is so nice to stumble back to the land of the living.

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