Thanksgiving is almost here and it will be the first I have without my father. I always remember painstakingly planning the menu so that he would be able to enjoy the food he loved, but not get too sick from eating what he shouldn't. Renal diets are no joke. When his kidneys failed he wasn't supposed to have so many of the things he loved: potatoes, dark leafy greens, chocolate, tomatoes, bananas, bacon, pig's feet... salt. It got difficult, but I always managed to make something that he could enjoy even if he only ate a little.
Last year he could barely manage a few spoonfuls of everything, but he surely tried and had to enjoy the food with a sip of beer or wine because he liked it that way. This year, as I prepare to make some of the foods he loved, I wonder if he'd like the menu I'm planning.
Anyway, it's been on my mind. As a first post since ever it's a bit of a downer, but I'm ok with it so you don't have to be. The picture is a throwback from a few years ago, but I know it's something he'd have loved.