Food has an important role in all of the things that we commemorate. This is true even if the occasion is somber. I am Jewish, And I would like to share with you an interesting and helpful tradition from Judaism. When a loved one passes, the next seven days is felt to be very important in the mourning process. It is the custom for the friends and relatives of those who have lost someone to make food or have it catered and send it to the bereaved. This is done for seven (shiva in Hebrew) straight days in a custom that Is called "sitting shiva" since the mourners sit and are served by others. The food is not what I would call festive, but it is meant to be comfort food and as such it can be very nice.

Where words are not enough, sometimes food and the act of preparing it can touch the heart.

It has been three weeks since the passing of my father-in-law. Spring is unfolding in all its green and fragrant glory, and this Sunday is Mother's Day. Geese are nesting in our fields, a brand-new baby llama cavorts across the way, our mare is about to foal and Echo is 38 1/2 weeks along. I am planning a brunch to honor all the mothers in our family but mostly my bereaved mother-in-law Helen. It is going to be an occasion to gently but gladly reintroduce all the themes of life.