I wrote my little blog, well one of them, on grief in October, 2013.  I had never read this book by C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, or any excerpts from it…but I stumbled upon it today.  I was surfing the web exploring all my phases and symptoms of grief this time around.  We are dealing with a whole different monster this time and making myself aware and educated is one way that I cope.

I read a few pages from A Grief Observed and lo and behold, I came across the following entry.  I clearly am not a skilled writer as C.S. is…and his writing is far more poignant than my thoughts merely typed out into the blank page of a blog.  However, broken down, I was pleased to read that we shared the same analogy on grief and losing a loved one…it’s kinda like losing a limb. C.S. will never be a biped again.  I am not a fan of being a double amputee, but I feel I will figure it out…eventually.

“Getting over it so soon? But the words are ambiguous. To say the patient is getting over it after an operation for appendicitis is one thing; after he’s had his leg off is quite another. After that operation either the wounded stump heals or the man dies. If it heals, the fierce, continuous pain will stop. Presently he’ll get back his strength and be able to stump about on his wooden leg. He has ‘got over it.’ But he will probably have recurrent pains in the stump all his life, and perhaps pretty bad ones; and he will always be a one-legged man. There will be hardly any moment when he forgets it. Bathing, dressing, sitting down and getting up again, even lying in bed, will all be different. His whole way of life will be changed. All sorts of pleasures and activities that he once took for granted will have to be simply written off. Duties too. At present I am learning to get about on crutches. Perhaps I shall presently be given a wooden leg. But I shall never be a biped again.”
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

This is my first post in momdotcalm in forever, it seems.  My cancerdotcalm blog came to a devastating end…not how we thought and hoped it would….with Mathew passing away a few short days ago. My last post in the blog was a bit controversial…and if I said I didn’t have second thoughts or some regrets about posting it, I’d be lying.

My love, Matthew Garth Mitchell, passed away after being in the ring with Leukemia for a bit over a year. He handled it amazing and kept on swinging right up until the end.  I am so proud of him and that I got to become so connected and fall madly in love with him over this past year. I thought he was my happily ever after…in turn, I guess I was his.   I was looking back though text messages and facebook messages and I am reminded of how we came to be and how in love we were.

“Never had these feelings like this before. I’m excited. I love seeing you. Love talking with you. Laughing with you. This is awesome.”

That is my favorite message from him from last Fall.  I have a few that I saved to my computer for safe keeping.  I am holding them close right now, along with the gazillion photos, and they are bringing me comfort.

Now, about my last post on cancerdotcalm.  It was a tool…as my art is…to get me through whatever is going on in my life.  Despite the second thoughts and some regrets…I shouldn’t have apologized when posting.  I used a blog, my blog, not my social media page.  The text was not going to show up on anyone’s news feed, the link was.  Click or don’t.  Read or move on.  That being said…I did not expect the overwhelming views and responses that I got (Although I am thankful for the support).  I wasn’t publishing my post to become some sort of witch hunt or needing all the hundreds of responses and messages to validate how I feel.  I own my feelings, I know why I feel the way I did and I believe I am justified for being upset when feeling unimportant and left behind in my time of grief.  I did not write my blog to hurt any part of a grieving family, just as I don’t think the decisions made at the end were intentionally made to hurt me.  I wrote my blog because I was hurting, and this is what I do.  Matt fell in love with this girl who blogs…he took the time to read all of them.  He knows this is how I cope and this is how I celebrate.  He agreed to the blog about him and made me feel comfortable enough with my feelings and my writing that no matter what I felt, own it, write about it if I wanted…and move on.

We cannot change the past, only how we view it. “Moving forward” is a term I use more than anything these days. So, I am taking my own advice and moving forward.  Tomorrow is the funeral.  When I look around I am confident I will not see who did what, who made what decision, who is fighting for what.  I am certain I will see a Mom and Dad with their spouses grieving for their too-young-to-be-gone son.  I will see two little boys trying to comprehend where heaven is and feeling their Dad’s void terribly.  I will see a daughter who is trying to figure out how to go on without her rock.  I will see the Moms of his kids with their heart breaking from losing a solid friend along with feeling the pain of their own children’s grief.  I will see a brother and sister-in-law not only losing a brother, but a friend.  I will see their three boys losing their Uncle Matt.  I will look at my own children and know that they are not only losing a great buddy they acquired over this past year…they are also trying to clear the dust that this loss is kicking up with their own father figure passing away almost exactly three years ago.  And I am sure I will see countless friends and family trying to grasp how this cancer thing happened to such an amazing person. So many people love him.

And then we will walk away from that grave…and move forward.  Matt would not want us stuck there in the grief we will feel at his graveside.  He will want us to move forward.

And then I will get home and I will look in the mirror at myself.  I hopefully will see a girl who’s ready to pick up the pieces…and get moving forward and figure out this happily ever after thing on my own.

I love this recipe because it’s simple, it’s sweet enough that the kids love it (easy on the red pepper flakes if you are feeding someone sensitive to spice) and packed with veggies so it’s a good way to make a dent in our “5 a day”!  This is enough for four adults…with three kids eating I had plenty of leftovers. It took me about an hour from the time I walked in the door from work until it was on the table.  I, however, had to love on some kids, sign permission slips, help with the 12 x’s table and console a little one for losing at Chutes and Ladders.   Let’s not forget putting on the yoga pants, get hair up in a clip and pour a glass of wine, too!  So, after all the meat and veggies are cut (do ahead if you want to make it a VERY quick meal),  only about 15 minutes is needed for actual cooking time. This means plan accordingly if you are preparing rice or noodles with it so it is all done at the same time.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 pound chicken breast (about 2 breasts), cubed
1/2-3/4 cup yellow onion sliced super thin
2 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
1 -inch piece peeled fresh ginger, minced (or 2 teaspoons ground ginger, divided)
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar (or smaller amount of sugar substitute…I prefer the real thing)
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1/2 tablespoon dark sesame oil, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
About 1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 to 6 cups fresh cut vegetables (I used what I had in the veggie drawer: Fresh green beans in 1″ cuts, carrots sliced thin, broccoli florets and 1 can sliced water chestnuts)
3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional…it adds a lot of heat
1 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Serving suggestion: Over brown rice

Directions

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the sliced onion, one clove of minced garlic, half the ginger, the soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of the salt, the sherry, and the sesame and olive oil equaling 1 tablespoon (most recipes call for all sesame, but it’s too much for me). Using hands, really coat the chicken with the mixture. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mix the remaining tablespoon cornstarch with 1/3 cup water in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and heat. Add the veggies and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the remaining minced garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons of water, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir-fry until the veggies are bright but still crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Get the skillet good and hot again, and then heat 2 more tablespoons oil. Add the chicken and chili flakes if using. Stir-fry until the chicken loses its raw color and gets a little brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce, return the veggies to the pan and toss to heat through. Stir in the reserved cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. Add more water if need to thin the sauce, if necessary. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like.

Scallion greens and toasted sesame seeds can also be used to garnish.

Recipe based on Food Network Kitchens and modified to my liking

French Onion Soup

Coupled with a Caesar Salad…then of course wine!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-7 onions, sliced (I used 4 HUGE yellow sweet slicing onions)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup red wine, I used chianti

3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 quarts beef broth (College Inn)

2 tsps Better Than Bouillion + 2 cups water

Croutons (Homemade or store bought, any kind you like)

Sliced Swiss and sliced provolone
Directions

Melt the stick of butter with the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bouillion and water and bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls or crocks and float several of the croutons on top. Cover with slices of Swiss and provolone.  Put in oven on middle rack and watch closely as it will brown very fast and may burn if you aren’t right on top of it.

This will serve 6-8 depending on your size crock/bowl.  I always make extra to share or freeze. It takes about 1 1/2 hrs from start to table.  This was adapted from the Tyler Florence recipe on the Food Network.  Add a salad and enjoy!