The Smells of Cooking Remind Me – A Saturday Blog Posting
Dear Priscilla Bennett Community,
I’m cooking my mother’s turkey chili recipe which is one of our favorites. Harry says, “There’s nothing like it,” and between the two of us, we finish a serving of four. The smells of it cooking remind me of my mother, how good she was to all of us, and how I took her love for granted—what a gift.
May is Mental Health Month, and I’ve thought about the abused women I’ve met in the emergency room who suffered from the fallout of domestic violence—depression, anxiety, anorexia and post traumatic stress syndrome to name a few—almost never recognized. Bringing attention to the these domestic violence issues and putting the spotlight on all of it each month is so important.
In the 1990s when I was working as a nurse in the emergency room, there was barely any recognition of domestic violence and the unrealized consequences—even in the medical community. I became friendly with a young woman with two children who repeatedly ended up in our emergency room with multiple injuries. She was rail thin and insisted that her injuries were due to easily bruising and frail bones—she was thirty. One night when she came back again for help, I said, “You have to eat something,” and gave her a meal. It sat in front of her for a long time with me coaxing her, and finally she said, “I can’t eat. I have no appetite.” “You have to. You have to be strong for your children,” I said. “The only thing I have control over is what I put in my mouth,” she responded.
Thank you, my friends, for listening. I know there are so many of you out there who are suffering and feel trapped, but there is help. Please go to my website www.priscillabennett.com and click on the RESOURCES tab. Read my blogs and the articles if you can, and reach out to someone with a touch, a smile a kind word or conversation. Don’t forget the Priscilla Bennett Pledge and remember that we all have SOMETHING TO BE BRAVE FOR.
Thinking of you all,
PRISCILLA BENNETT XOXO