In May 2020 my life was uprooted and changed forever. My mother, with no symptoms except for a 3 day indigestion-like feeling was diagnosed with an unknown and aggressive gastrointestinal cancer that took her life 3 months later.
Her death was complicated by the Coronavirus pandemic. Due to the limitations on social gatherings, my family was unable to hold a funeral, so I honored her in a social media tribute #66daysofReb, memorializing her 66 years of life.
My mom lived for food – she chose travel locations based around their local delicacies and cuisines, she brought our family together with cooking and preparing meals. She enjoyed growing her own vegetables and fruits in her garden and she loved to scrutinize restaurant menus finding the best dishes to order. It is ironic that her stomach took her life.
The first holiday without my mom was Thanksgiving. I found myself needing to do something more for others and started googling ‘how to donate a meal to a family in need’…food banks, groceries, prepared meals all came up but nothing to specifically donate/sponsor a local restaurant meal.
This is how MealsfromMimi (MFM) was born. My mom would call this a Trifecta: my mom’s love for food, the holiday spirit of giving, the COVID-19 pandemic (support local businesses).