Dinner with Cathy!
For my last Meals with Memories, I had the pleasure of eating dinner with Cathy who has lived across the street from me my whole life. My mom had met her in passing a few times but I had never and didn't know anything about her. Recently we heard the unfortunate news that her long-term boyfriend passed away unexpectedly. My mom suggested that we invite Cathy over for a Meals with Memories dinner as she might be grieving the loss of her loved one and could use some companionship! I left a note in her mailbox to invite her over and asked her to share a recipe that means something to her. Cathy responded with a note that she would love to join us and she included two recipe options.
I decided to serve the recipe she shared for zucchini and cheese casserole which was absolutely delicious and very easy to make! When she came to our house, Cathy explained that the recipe actually came from one of her sister’s old boyfriends! Her family loves the recipe so much that they continue to make it for almost all of their holiday dinners. We have a similar recipe we make in our family, a special noodle kugel dish that my mom got from one of her ex-boyfriend’s mothers, and we love it. I think it’s funny how recipes from our past become a part of new family traditions! I also wanted to make Cathy something special from my families traditions, so I baked her a banana bread from a recipe that has been in my family for a while! We also ordered in Indian food from a local restaurant to supplement the meal.
It was fun to learn about Cathy! She grew up in Long Island and went to college in NY. She studied chemistry and became a chemist! She started off working in a lab in the pharmaceutical industry and later was in management and regulatory affairs working on new drug authorizations (NDAs), She was married for 21 years and she has two children she spoke highly of. Both of them have very interesting careers of their own. As I get ready to go to college, I know I will be thinking about my career soon. It’s very interesting to hear about unique professions that people have!
Cathy was really excited to show us her daughter's old brownie uniform! Apparently, Cathy was even a troop leader at one point!
Cathay told us about her late boyfriend who was actually one of her former colleagues! After her divorce she rekindled their friendship and then they dated for 17 years before he unexpectedly passed away. It was really nice to get to know a neighbor who lives across the street. Neighbors should not be strangers! I hope I brought a little bit of joy to her day.
Even though it is sad that this is my last meals with memories dinner, I am so happy that I got to do it with Cathy. I enjoyed connecting with her and learning about her past.
