After reading a recent article on how the Salvation Army is providing comfort kits to those struck by major catastrophes like flooding and other natural disasters, I think we could all use a comfort kit to help us cope with the state of the world-stories of pirates hijacking ships (I prefer my pirates more of the Johnny Depp/Capt. Jack blend) and an ever-expanding dire economy-although I seem to be growing more numb to this kinds of news.
If I designed my own 2009 comfort kit, I'd have to include:
- sweatshirt & sweatpants
- diet coke
- nachos
- sour patch kids
- pasta
- family time-preferably dinners so I can cook
- good book
- better wine
- iPod
- my cat & dog
- cleaning supplies (it helps me relax, strange, I know)
Most of my comfort lies in food, which I think is common for most people. In our house, meals are social events, partly because my family is so large we all only fit in the kitchen, and also because we like to eat-a lot. But while we cook, its more than what for dinner, it's all the activity that surrounds the meal. Drinks are poured, snacks are grazed on and everyone starts retelling favorite stories as the cooking meal's great aromas surround the conversation. There's plenty of laughter to go around for seconds and thirds and by the time the meal is finished, we have laughed until we cried over such obscure, yet cherished family jokes like "You want a pickle up your end?"-I swear, it's not what you think. These meals go beyond what's on the table, they are about what's shared at the table. I remember times like those each time I turn to a particular comfort food and realize its not just the taste, but the memories I enjoy with each bite that makes it so powerfully soothing.
Do you take comfort in food? What comfort belongings would you put in your 2009 comfort kit?
~Comfort Creature
