Sustenance and Remembering Lucia

Gardening nurtures my mind, body and spirit in a way that few other hobbies do. This morning as the dew lay heavy on the ground, Shadow and I entered the vegetable garden. I gathered the rest of the spaghetti squash, cucumbers and a cantaloupe. The kitchen table is covered from one end to the other with bowls of fruit, tomatoes, squash and whole watermelon and cantaloupe. Last night’s dinner was almost entirely grown in my garden, with the exception of the potatoes in the potato salad and the chicken – and I know I could, if I wanted to, have grown either of those things too.

Gardening is sustenance…food for the body, mind and spirit. Growing and cooking food that you grew with your own hands and watched develop forges a deep connection with the land and place where you live in ways that nothing else does.

In Memory: Lucia Capodilupo

My sister Mary forwarded an email to me from her colleagues at Teachers College Columbia Unviersity. Mary is completing her doctorate in education there, and I worked at Teachers College from 2005 to 2006 as a Director of Outreach (PR and grant-related communications). Mary wanted to let me know that one of my former colleagues, Lucia Capodilupo, had died from injuries sustained in a car accident in July.

I was very sad to hear that Lucia had died. Among the people I worked with at Teachers College, Lucia stood out in my mind for her kindness and cheerfulness.  I didn’t work with her much, but when I did, she was someone with whom I’d instantly feel at ease – she had that way about her. You left her office feeling buoyant and happy whenever you met with her.

I was surprised to learn that she had authored a book and that this kind, warm and generous woman was also a well known and much loved weight loss counselor who had lost 95 pounds! I am reading Lucia’s book, Thin Through the Power of Spirit, and recommend it highly. Although some of it may seem far fetched, the deep yearning for a connection with a Higher Power, and how it impacts our weight is very true. Many people eat for comfort. Finding that comfort in a Higher Power – recognizing the true source of sustenance – is a truth Lucia recognized, as do many other people. When we take in the true bread of life, we are never hungry – when we connect with our Higher Power and fill the deep yearnings of our heart for love, comfort, and strength, and receive these blessings, we are sustained in ways that make overeating no longer necessary.