Unbroken

Last night I had the priviledge to hear WWII veteran Louie Zamperini speak. I am in the middle of reading the book describing his miraculous survival of floating 47 days on a raft, POW camps and even his road home back to America. At age 95, we would all be thankful to have his sharp mind. While on the raft, he realized he had to keep his mind occupied with good thoughts and one tactic was to describe to his 2 fellow survivors some of his favorite home-cooked meals: "Every conversation meandered back to food. Louie had often boasted to Phil about his mother's cooking, and at some point, Phil asked Louie to describe how she made a meal. Louie began describing a dish, and all three men found it satisfying, so Louie kept going, telling them about each dish in the greatest possible detail. Soon, Louise's kitchen floated there with them: Sauces simmered, spices were pinched and scattered, butter melted on tongues." Perhaps our family and friends will not be faced with such trials and tribulation, but what will they remember of our kitchens? Mr. Zamperini encouraged us last night to take all the survival courses you can. I encourage you to start that process by learning all you can about cooking up your own food in your own kitchen. Instead of survival of the fittest- survival lessons to be the fittest(mind, body and soul).