Lester Smith

When my wife was pregnant with our second son, about 7 months in she was ordered on “bed rest”.

She spent the time getting things ready for the baby as all expectant mothers do. She decided to make a few meals that she could freeze for those first few weeks after the baby was born, so that we’d have something to eat for dinner without too much effort. One of the dishes she made was lasagna, which I thought was very good… one of my personal favorites.

We went in to the hospital to have the baby, but unfortunately there were complications. My dear wife passed away the day after my son was born. That period during the first few months was the loneliest I’ve felt in my entire life. I took a year off of work to take care of my two boys.

But, it was the first few weeks that were the absolute toughest. It was then that I decided to pull out that lasagna and heat it up for dinner. My 4 year old loved it, and I usually did too. But this time I couldn’t eat it. I tried… but it was too difficult. I still remember looking at my plate through the tears in my eyes.

Definitely, the most depressing meal I’ve ever eaten…

UPDATE: A number of people asked about my current situation so I decided to respond here.

My wife of 10 years passed away on November 9, 2000. Things were rough, but I had good support from family and friends alike. As you can probably imagine, you don’t really ever “get over” a situation like this. You just have to “get through” it in the best way you can.

I did get remarried about a year later to a childhood friend (we originally met when I was 7 years old — she was 5). She came with a daughter, who was 3 at the time (now 20), who is very special to me like her mother. My oldest son is 21 and the baby is now almost 17 and driving — I’m very proud of him.

We are all doing well, and staying busy. I would like to say that there were a few things that really helped me through that situation: 1) A wonderful promise that’s recorded in the Bible, and 2) an equally wonderful brochure (When Someone You Love Dies) that really helped me to cope with my circumstances and to manage my feelings and emotions throughout that whole situation.

If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we’ve all lost someone at some point. My sincere hope is that this brochure will help you as much as it did me.

Hema Vidhya

Rice with water.

Recipe: Pour water on freshly cooked rice and add salt. Been my dinner and breakfast for many years till I grew up to earn for myself. During the initial years I loathed it. Been depressed while eating it ,but then there were days of hunger where just one spoon of it would taste like pure heaven.

Image Credit: Hema Vidhya, Quora

My dad died when I was 11 years old and my mother went into a stage of shock immediately. My younger brothers and I had to take care of ourselves and manage to grow up. A kind relative of ours would give a sack of rice which would last for a few months. This was the recipe we could come up with what we had :)

I am not poor anymore but when I look back at those days , this is what I remember.

Me : I have taken my share of food. This is for you

Brother (s) : I don’t need so much. You need to go for your march past practice tomorrow. So you take some more

Me : No,it’s ok. You have your exam and need to study late night. You take some more

All I remember is the love and sharing we had as a family with the watery rice meal we had :)

Via Quora