The Last Supper

I remember the last meal I fed to my love before he went to the hospital for the last time and would taste food no more. I gave him grape leaves and hummus. He only ate a little, but those were dishes he always loved. I tried so hard to give him any food he would enjoy, but towards the end, food was not so important to him. We spent our life together cooking and eating and while this was not especially healthy, it was fun. I even studied Greek cooking for three years so I could make him the best food.
Imagine for a moment that it was your last meal. What would you want it to be? I think for me it would have to be cheese blintzes. I was a waitress for a very long time, and blintzes covered in strawberry jam were my favorite thing to eat. My love always wanted eggplant cooked in a variety of ways with tomatoes or yogurt or garlic. In a book called The Meaning of Food, a man named Brian Price, who had been in prison for several years, tells about how he would cook the meals for the men who were sentenced to death. The condemned men could choose what they wanted to eat and he would fix it for them. Sometimes the prison wouldn't have the exact ingredient like fish or whatever and he would try to take something else and make it as close as possible to what the condemned prisoner wanted. Most other prisoners did not want to fix this last meal for the condemned but Mr. Price came to believe that his cooking made a difference and that he could give these men a little peace before their last moment on earth came. I guess you could say we are all condemned to some degree. It's just that these men know the hour they will complete their lives. The rest of us don't. I do remember that in all my grief, food had no real attraction for me. Hunger and grief just don't go together. "What if that was your son or your brother? Would you be so ready to see him put to death like a dog? Or would you rather seem him get a good last meal?" This is the question Mr. Price asks of all of us. Peace--this is what I set out to find when I started the blog. Peace is what I am still searching for and just beginning to find. Mr. Price is a good man for believing that everybody deserves this even if just a little.