I probably need to clear up that the Zane telling this story is a different Zane than the one who writes this newsletter. If you can believe it, there is another Zane who works in employee communications and is active on LinkedIn. That’s how I “met” Zane.
As he was sharing his work and community activities he supports, I knew he’d have a good story to share. I asked and he shared.
There are so many different ways we process grief at the death of someone we love.
In this episode of Tell Me a Story, Zane talks about his mother’s death three years ago. A unique perspective he brought to his experience was in seeing how the roles in his family have evolved to try to make up for the loss of someone who was such a presence in their lives.
He talks about learning to cook, specifically the dishes his mother used to make, and how he was able to share that with his father and sister during the holidays.
While there is no easy way to move through grief, when we endure we can better appreciate the person and remember what they gave to us - and sometimes food is that time machine to take us back to a time and place with our loved ones.
I wasn’t sure what Chile Colorado meant until I looked it up after Zane mentioned cooking it in the way his mom would prepare it.
I now realize it is one of the few things I miss about Arizona. I miss great Mexican food in general.
Learning grief and new family roles when our loved ones pass with Zane L.