Why the Ziti?

Hello and welcome to the first episode of my newsletter: “Keep your F’in Ziti” ! A Newsletter to talk about anything and everything about GRIEF, GRIEVING. There is an elephant in the room and I am going to point it out loud. Real life stories of grief in every language, religion, shape and form to create a platform for others to open up to themselves first and others.

I decided to share some of my deepest darkest feelings about grief as a person who experienced it down to my core. It is one of the most uncomfortable topics to talk about. In some cultures, religious believes, it is frowned upon to talk about death and grief and feelings that come with it and believe me there are a lot of feelings. These feelings, most often are suppressed, jammed in a box sealed with a tight lid and buried, just like the coffin being lowered into the grave.

When you find out about the death of someone dear or near you, you want to pay respect to the family and loved ones and what is one of the most common things to do: Bring a casserole, more often Baked Ziti..I don’t know, maybe it freezes well? Everyone loves it, most cases it is vegetarian, even??? It is also one of the best comfort foods there is. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ziti, and I make a mean casserole of baked ziti myself…

But why do we think it is a good idea to bring Ziti to the grieving house? Is there a story I haven’t found out yet? May be, in the villages of Sicily, when someone dies, you bring ziti or something a bit more exotic, like manicotti ? Or is it that Ziti brings us, the “giver”, some comfort to know that you provided food to the family who just lost their matriarch, The father or the mother, or even one of the children… Whoever the person (deceased), whatever their age or the relation to the surviving family members, whatever the circumstances are, the family is in crisis. They are all literally in a state of shock, trying to figure out the next steps and ding dong!!!!! The doorbell rings : “ Hi, my deepest condolences and by the way, here, I brought you baked ziti…

The person who answered the door, takes the ziti, goes to the kitchen.. The freezer is filled to the top with different shaped casseroles. Person goes: “ Here is another one!!!!!