The Biggest Loser

Almost immediately upon his arrival, it became obvious to me that dad does not like my cooking.  My pasta is too al dente, I over season meat, my coffee is too strong.  If he could eat cereal, I'm sure I would find a way to make it inedible as well.

While dad was in the hospital recovering from surgery, I purchased about a million dollars worth of cookbooks.  Gluten free, cancer fighting, how to not eat the way we eat books.  I even bought miso soup from a local restaurant and took it into his hospital room when he was able to eat again.  Wasn't having it.  I bought an 'authentic' wok from Williams Sonoma with expectations of a mostly fresh, stir fried diet. Nope.

Now, with everything he is going through, which is mostly a constant state of discomfort, I don't take anything personally.  But it was rather ego deflating when all he wanted to eat were Hungry Man frozen dinners.  Imagine my horror.  When I cooked meals for my family he wanted Salisbury steak.  And with the frozen meals, the chicken would not cook right in the microwave or the potatoes would be frozen in the middle.  Awful.  Night after night, I would have to serve these nasty meals in their plastic sectioned trays on a beautiful dark wooden Asian inspired tray my dear friends Peter and Laura gave me as a birthday gift years ago.  He finally hit the wall yesterday and told me he couldn't eat another frozen meal.  THANK YOU GOD! OH!  I'm so excited to go to the store and buy a week's worth of fresh ingredients!  Ahhh...

My dad is just about through his first round of chemo.  Tomorrow he begins his second treatment.  He made it through for the most part with minimal side affects.  I have been very pleased.  But recently he can't sleep well.  His stomach is too upset to eat.  This morning I had the realization that my dad and I are just about the same weight.  I am 5'2" and my dad is pushing 6'.  I am once again horrified.  Horrified because, selfishly, I already have enough self esteem issues around my weight, having weighed 115 lbs when I got engaged to my husband not quite six years ago and horrified that my tall, bad ass dad is now so frail.  I believe in this instance I am the biggest loser