Mama's Home Cookin'

   Many things in life are meant to bring one a lot of joy. Nothing more than a home cooked meal that has been prepared with a hard work and love poured in. Having been an on the road service technician for over 30 years has given me a perspective on just how true the above statement is. I have eaten foods from dozens of cultures and countries over the years and it's just nothing like coming home to a good ol fashioned home cooked meal. Between my wife and my mother I have enjoyed some of the finest meals a man could ever be blessed with. And it isn't the ingredients, recipes, or process for cooking they use. It's the love they pour into each meal they work so hard to prepare. I have enjoyed meals in some of the finest restaurants in the world and they have been great meals don't get me wrong. But it's just the fact that it's at home and it's being enjoyed with family that makes those other meals secondary in comparison.
   I have pondered and worried over whether I am going to miss all the foods that I will not be able to enjoy anymore. It has been a constant little nagging thought in the back of mind. Will I miss? and the list goes on and on. I think I will miss it but can I live without? I believe I can. Others do it everyday and I have met some very helpful people along the way that have reassured me that it is something that you handle and get over. I am looking forward to that time when I can look back, hopefully over a much leaner shoulder, and say "I have put that in my past and I am much healthier for it."
   So for now, I am enjoying my last full size meals and trying to enjoy a variety of the foods I will no longer enjoy in the future. I am not going hog wild on the eating but am giving some of my favorites one last ride. It's funny, they use the tell us not to be doing a "restaurant victory tour" before our surgeries because we have to do a two week liquid diet to prepare for the procedure. They don't say anything about the two weeks before the two weeks. That's when my victory tour is on full swing. Like I have mentioned before, I am dreadful of the two week liquid diet procedure but I am very determined to make it happen an make it happen successfully. My new life begins shortly after that and I am going to love it, but for now, I am counting down the meals to that final day and am enjoying the ride with a few delightful dishes and favorite treats along the way.