Southern Sisters

In this month's edition of Southern Living Magazine, there is a feature article about the people who survived the tornadoes that devastated parts of the south this spring. For a magazine that is largely a reflection of privileged life styles, this article was a little bit of a departure for them. I loved it. I found it touching, and I cried more than once while reading. (I will be taking the mag into the office and force ESK to read it because I get a sick sense of power from making her cry.)

In one part of the article, they focused on the people who came together to cook for the people who lost everything and the people who came to help. One line jumped out at me . . . something like, in the south, tragedy and food are sisters. I would argue that they have a third sister, joy.

Here in the south, we mark life passages with food. We cook for new mothers. We cook for bereaved families. We cook to celebrate accomplishments, and we cook to alleviate pain. We cook to welcome. We cook to share sorrow. And, we wouldn't have it any other way.