Ruth realized at a very young age th

rie and all you do is cook for people who don’t appreciate you. Don’t you have any ambition”(229). Ruth noticed one thing while working in the Swallow, she loved her job loved the atmosphere and the people even if all the did was bicker with one another it gave meaning that not everyone has a storybook life. But most of the time things ran as smooth as a babies bare bottom. In 1977 Ruth began giving cooking lessons At the Artpark and enjoyed herself immensely every step of the way. Throwing herself into her work she forgot about the troubled past and started doing something she had always enjoyed, cooking. Then a phone call from her father and twelve more from her mother made her slip back in to the life she wanted so desperately to forget. “ The party wasn’t my idea. Aunt Birdie probably doesn’t even want it. I don’t understand why its suddenly my responsibility” “Because I need you”(246). Ruth felt trapped like she had no place to hide so she went to repair the damage her m!

at food can be a killer. Not understanding why her family had not fallen victim to the food is still a question she’ll never know. From breakfast to dinner and even her mothers outlandish parties had kept her on her toes from as early in life as she could remember. In the mornings she could get out of bed and open the fridge to see what kind of mood her mother was in always praying for the best preparing for the worse. With a mother that would poison the world if she could made her grow up before her time trying to safe lives. Her mother picked up the phone “Who doesn’t feel well”(18)? “All of them”(18)? “ “Nonsense” Ruth heard her say. “We all feel fine. And we ate everything””(19). Bobs engagement party turned out to be a disaster even if it was turned into a fundraiser. Which only made matters worse. Ruth felt like all she was good for was saving people from ending up sick or even worse dead. “With our well trained stomachs my father an!

d I could take whatever mom was dishing out, but for most people it was pure poison”(12). If Ruth’s mother thought something was bad her husband unfortunately got the job of being the taster. So wonder he wasn’t driven to an early grave.

I believe Ruth just wanted to fit in somewhere, it didn’t matter where as long as she could feel complete. Her mother made her feel alone and unwanted, never showing her the love she deserved and needed to be a happy teenager, always telling everyone she was so responsible, where if she didn’t have to be she wouldn’t have. Food was a way to bring everything into view that she loved food and the comfort it brought her. She relished on a way to become herself through cooking it was the only thing that gave her hope. I’m sure she wondered what life would have been like if she would have had parents who cared for her, loved her , but most of all spent quality time with her. In so many ways Ruth wished she could have been someone else, but as she grew older she appreciated what she was. Ruth took control of her life and made the best out of what she had. Food brought her hope and hope brought her life. After reading Ruth Reichl memoir Tender at the Bone made me thank God that I had a loving mother who read me stories, hugged, kissed, and showed me that I was a special part of her life.

Even though Ruth made fast friends when it came to food, it also helped her bridge cultures whether it be in color or status S

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