Happy Midterms, NU. I am a bit subdued at the moment—stuck in the middle of exams, papers, and that weird ever-expanding kind of work that isn’t really work (like sending emails… when did sending emails get so stressful?!). But, I was just chatting with some of my favorite girls and I told a story about my grandmother from when I was home for Easter this past weekend. Now I’ll tell you!
First of all, my grandmother (also named Elizabeth) is great. She is a little bit crazy… but most grandmothers are. She is half Italian herself and once she married my Italian grandfather, she learned to cook like he did (sort of) and they both passed it on to my mother. Every Easter, my sister and sometimes some various cousins spend the day with Gram to make these ham pies that I never actually learned to like until this year. There’s like a hundred different kinds of cheese in these pies, so no, they’re not good for you. But actually, that is not the point of this story.
The one and only Betty DelCervo.
Though the whole purpose of her coming over last Friday was to make pie, she still brought dessert for us all for the afternoon. See the problem with being in my family? Anyway, she called my mother beforehand to warn her. “I’m bringing strawberry shortcake,” she said. “With angel food cake. For Elizabeth. I thought Elizabeth would like that.” My mom diligently passed that on to me, but when Gram got to my house she repeated it again. “It’s so light, feel it, it’s so light,” she said, handing me the cake tin. “It can’t possibly be bad for you.” I had to laugh because okay, fair logic Gram, but what about the extremely sugared strawberries and the homemade whipped cream? Yum. But not diet food, no matter how little it weighed.
It was so sweet of her to think of my attempt at a healthy lifestyle, and it reminded me of how much we’ve actually bonded over weight stuff. I never thought when I started losing weight that it would be a common topic with my grandmother, but she’s always first to ask me how it’s going and share a story. Goes to show that living healthfully truly is a lifelong endeavor.
Now I’m back at school and it’s raining and it’s April 27th. So that’s fun… but I had my respite at home. I got to play with my grandma and enjoy my family and all its food-drenched traditions. I guess my point is—you can draw support from almost any small moment. Just pay attention to the small gestures that make you feel loved and appreciated. You’ll be happier for it!
PS—obviously the side lesson here is one of my old favorites. Don’t worry too much about dieting during special occasions. OBVIOUSLY I ate a significant amount of pie. I didn’t spend that whole afternoon making pie to not eat it!
Feel-Good Tip of the Week:
You know man, this is a rough time of the quarter. Make sure you’re praising yourself for what you’re doing right. I have an exam tomorrow and even though I’m struggling to get through the material, I’m proud that I’m at least working at it. Don’t let NU blues get you down. Revel in your superior intelligence this week!