12/11/2025
Give grief a seat at the table.
Jolly friend,
Your favorite thing about this season is storytelling & laughing around vibrant food.
As an Italian-American, I grew up going into Brooklyn every Christmas to get the freshest ravioli, calamari salad, cannolis & sfougadells, & I can relate!
Maybe our traditional holiday meals looks different—but our love for a mix of savory & sweet is the same.
🎄 The sweetness of seeing a child’s awe at twinkling lights
🫂 The savory and almost bitter tension of family dynamics being played out in unavoidable moments
You love deeply, and so it is only natural
that you grieve deeply too. They are two sides of the same coin.
☃️ Your love for grandpa who’s warm hugs you miss
💔 Your sadness about the boyfriend you adored but also NEEDED to break up with this summer
💵 Your passion for your job that didn’t come with a bonus this year
All love and grief.
Difficult to digest for sure; and when we leave grief off the menu, it becomes like that side dish of vegetables that you know is “good for you” but you can’t quite seem to reach for and therefore miss out on those nutrients.
Consider this…
✨ Give grief a seat at the table this year.
✨ Examine what it’s like to nourish yourself with permission to grieve.
✨ Talk about loss with trusted people. (Could be your therapist—I’m available if you need one! your dog, your neighbor)
✨ Get teary eyed and don’t wipe those tears away so quickly when the smell of fresh cookies reminds you of your cousin across the country
Marc David, author of “The Slow Down Diet” says “How we do food, is how we do life.”
❗️A diet of only joy would be deficient in deep understanding, empathy, and RICH human connection.❗️(Think only = lonely.)
So give grief a seat at the table this holiday season. If you don’t like the way it tastes, you can always go back to what you were doing last year.
For grieving families, I encourage you to explore this beautiful resource—lovefromlydia.com. 🤍
