I chose to respond to the importance of food in this essay. While reading this touching article it seems as if food always brought the family together. It was their means of all coming together and having that special time of enjoying each others company and having some time to enjoy each other. The mother became very ill and couldn't eat anymore but the son still wanted to have mom there just like the old days when he was a child. He really enjoys bringing the family together to just sit together. It reminds him of when he was a child and mom would cook for him. The son was taking care of his dying mom. She was dying of stomach cancer and he thought that was particularly cruel because having that "eating time" together was their bonding time as a family and having stomach cancer was just not right. While his mom was dying the son put together some special Korean food which was mom's favorite food. His sister and him decided to put together a bunch of different finger foods to get to try and eat something. They prepared a try of smoked salmon canapes, fried some Korean bean cakes, and made a few other dishes that he thought she might enjoy. His sister helped by arranging the platters and carried the dishes to their parents. Mom really tried to eat but just couldn't get it down. She told her children how yummy the food was although they knew she couldn't eat it. This family moved here from Korea and the only food they would eat for the first year was Korean food. Then they had neighbors bring them recipes of swedish meatballs, tuna casserole and angel food cake. This family lived for Mom's cooking and not just the cooking but for the time they spent together while they would all sit down together and enjoy the time together.
This article gets me thinking that I wish our family could sit down together and talk everynight. It seems as though maybe once a week we are able to do that because with 5 kids everyone is constantly going in different directions. It seems like a very important thing to do just to check in with everyone and see how their day is or just to sit and all be in the same place at one time together. My husband travels during the week as well so it makes it that much harder to come together as a family on a daily basis.
Hi Dina,
ReplyDeleteI must say that I love how food was such a big part of this family life. It’s funny you never know what the clue is that holds a family together and in this family it was the food. While reading this story I felt the love that was made in the kitchen, right along with the food. It was so nice to see everyone sitting down together, even if mom was not able to eat. Since the family probably knew that the food was the clue that kept the family together, her son kept on trying cook even when he knew she could not eat. He did not want to miss that time that he and his family had when they all sat down together. When I look back I have to say that when my mom cooked it brought such comfort to our home, everything smelled so good and you knew that everything was ok. My own daughter says that now, mom I can’t wait to come home and have some of your home cooked food, it is so comforting. What a gift that this woman gave to her family it must have been so hard when she was not longer able to cook for her family. But I love how her son took over the cooking duties and not one of the sisters. This to me spoke of their special time together while he was growing up and now he wanted to do this for her. The part I think that really spoke to me in regards to the food was when his mom had passed away and he still tried to cook the same big meal even though it was just him and his dad. I believe that he was trying to bring a little bit of his mom spirit back into the house. Thanks for sharing; I enjoyed reading your response.
Hi Dina,
ReplyDeleteI agree that food is something that brings this family together and helps them bond. It seems the narrator also associates his mother's food with love; the food he's trying to recreate is a way for him to keep his mother alive.
It's interesting that when he was younger, he wanted to spend time in the kitchen, so he could be near his mother. In his teen years, he just wanted to be away from her. Then, when he returns home as an adult, he retreats to the kitchen to cook the food his mother used to and to inhabit her space.
Your post reminds me how important it is to eat as a family, which is difficult to accomplish in our society.
Thanks for your insights.
Take care,
Lauren
Well the saying goes family comes together forever in sickness and in health in poverty or in wealth ...Women come together to prepare food for friends and family in all occasions, activities, marriage, home and food hold hands but the other time it seems family seperates in the home and does their own thing...food seems to be a magical bonding time ...A reception to share!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reading
Daye
In this story food was very important. It was a time for them to come together as a family. I think it might have also been part of their Korean culture. Food and meals seem to be very important in most people's lives. They see it as a time to be together with family members and talk about how things are going with them. Just look at holidays. One of the main things people do during the holidays is get together with family members and cook giant lavish meals. I loved holidays growing up and still do. It was the only time really that my whole family would get together. It is still that way with my family. My grandmother and aunt live here in Santa Rosa, but I still only see them on holidays and birthdays really. This year i will be seeing them more than usual because both my sister and I are getting married. It is kind of sad that we live so close but see each other so little. It is way different with my fiance's family. We are always going to his grandparents' houses. He constantly talks to his family and him mom tries to come visit a couple times a year from Idaho. I like how close him and his family are. I wish my family was closer than we are.
ReplyDeleteHello, I understand and love the way you stated how important the food brought the family closer together.. I enjoyed reading this. People might ask why it was so important to this Korean family, the answer is that, it brought the family closer, the mom cook it so that's what made it special. It was depressing for him and the mom seeing her not able to eat anymore. She loved to cook and loved to spend time with her family. This definitely made me think a lot and left a touching feeling to the story
ReplyDeleteThanks I loved it!, Lesley
Hey. I like that you chose to use the food on this one. I think it's a great way to bond with your family. And in the story, it brought the family closer by sharing recipes and being together all the time cooking. Some cultures or races do it a lot. For example, I have a lot of mexican friends, and I noticed they are always getting together and having bbqs and stuff and im always invited and its always a fun place to be and you can see the bonding kind of between each of them. And I agree, ever since I moved out of the house and on my own I never really make dinner anymore. I really miss being able to sit down with my mom and sister and eat a good healthy meal because my mom was the best cook and I always enjoy going home and being able to have dinner with them.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that food is one of the most important things in the family as it helps to bring everyone together. No only in Korean culture, in most of the culture around the world people seem to come together and have at least a dinner together with their family. Also in his writing author mentioned that he was always around his mother while she was cooking. Here author took help of food to show his intimacy with his mother and even though his mother did not teach him how to cook or gave any recipes for her food, he finally learned how to cook. This is how his mother passed her legacy to her children, which is though food. Food is only the means to bring family together.
ReplyDeleteHello Dina,
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely great benefits from the family sitting together and spending time together over a meal on a regular basis. It creates a distinct bond and keeps the lines for communication open. I believe this to be extremely important as the children become teenagers. This is when the generation gap really starts to take off. You could lose that bond and communication if you do not take the time and effort to maintain that closeness.
Mandy Ericson
Dina.
ReplyDeleteLike myself I chose to write about the food topic as well. I guess this was a popular topic to write about. But I like how you use food to bring your family together as well. Some of the best memories ive had with my family have been at the dinner table. But now that I am in college I rarely see my family anymore so when I do, my mom makes a big deal about it and we have a huge family dinner. Its always great to spend time with the ones you love.