Dear Reader:

When Honey finished her personal “Race for the Cure” for MS like mine for breast cancer (but nowhere near as long) she told me about a story she knew I would love and all the people one woman has touched through her story….called “The Gathering Table.”

Honey ordered a copy and started reading immediately….loving it. As I read the editors’ introduction on amazon…I thought it summarized the story perfectly.

Here is an excerpt to this marvelous book and an amazing woman’s leap of faith to surround herself with the support of friends and good food and wine.

Just back from her latest adventure at a cooking school in Italy, Ronda Giangreco was a healthy, vibrant woman busy planning her next big dinner party. She and her husband had spent the day sampling wines in the Napa Valley with friends. Life was good. One day later she was a disabled woman. A diagnosis of sudden onset Multiple Sclerosis would be difficult for anyone to accept. But for Ronda and her husband it was a particularly cruel twist of fate. MS had killed his mother. Told she might not be able to walk for much longer, she asked herself the question, “…then where should I walk now?” Her answer – to the kitchen!

As an avowed “foodie”, she had always found her joy in front of a stove. But when she made the audacious vow to her husband that she would create a big Italian feast every Sunday night for an entire year as a means of warding off this disease, he thought she had lost her mind. It began with a simple idea. What if she tried to cook a meal for eight people every Sunday throughout 2010? With steaming plates of pasta she would attempt to triumph over Multiple Sclerosis one week at a time.

She began by sending out an email invitation to all of her friends and soon added to the guest list scores of new people anxious to join in the fun. Each week the first six who accepted the invitation would join them for an evening of laughter, good food and plenty of great wine. They never orchestrated the mix of people, allowing fate to create interesting “pairings” of dinner guests. Over the course of fifty-two weeks, they heard stories that made them weak with laughter and others that brought tears to their eyes.

And they ate…mountains of gnocchi, meatballs and her guest’s favorite: homemade ricotta with fresh-baked bread. The story of her journey through the pain and confusion of Multiple Sclerosis, coupled with the healing balm of her lovingly prepared meals is told with humor, grace and heartwrenching honesty.

This book will have you running to the kitchen for your own remedy to life’s challenges. As the famous chef, Michael Chiarello, Ronda’s cheerleader and inspiration for her meals suggests, “Take this book and learn from the gifts she is sharing. Commit one or fifty-two days with those you love and start your legacy now.”

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Don’t you love the idea of a Gathering Table? It just caught my imagination….I want to try it…perhaps not on such a large scale time-wise but at least periodically.

In Simple Abundance I had just read about the idea of a comfort drawer-setting aside one special drawer to keep any items that brings comfort to you for the “rainy days”  in life when they come…and they will come, as well we all know. The author, Sarah Breathnach, put some items like these in it: chocolates (a necessity) old love/friendship letters/notes, satin eye mask, scrapbook, tin of fancy biscuits,  unusual teas, different aroma/creams…..

To add to the room’s effect…. she suggested changing sheets and putting on the softest ones/highest count -kept for guests) white candles on a tray (your own northern lights) soothing music and favorite pj’s.

In both cases (whether a gathering table or comfort drawer) we first must understand how important it is to pamper ourselves some days and keep friends on our short time-line to comfort and support us while we do the same for them.

Discovered this little book while “surfing” for similar themes….looks good….especially ideas for comforting others during turbulent times. (Thanks for all your continued prayers for Kaitlyn’s family. Honey, as usual, you are so special!)

So until tomorrow….Be good to yourself. You deserve it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

John is home….safe and sound from Phoenix, AZ….they all came to bring Eva Cate to play with Boo Boo for a couple of days….working in the garden and making fairy homes.

* The Ya’s sent flowers to Jackson for her first day in her new home/apartment. She said all the furniture was there but the hard task is emptying all the boxes before she can begin arranging furniture. Still she is happy to be in and we are all so happy for her. It’s been a long time coming!

And speaking of ‘a long time coming’ Brooke said she had to wait a long time to be a grandmother but it is so worth it….these days she is keeping Caleb a few days a week since Veronica returned to work and loving it. Isn’t he precious?

Susan, Bekah, and Ady are all home from Disney World. Susan said they were happily exhausted. The Magic Kingdom is magically wonderful but it is definitely not for the weak of heart or legs….you have to be strong to make it through. This little Cinderella (Ady) looks like she is more than ready for the clock to strike twelve.