Shelby, our chef from yesterday, not only has great recipes, but also has a good philosophy on gratitude. When asked what gratitude means to her, this is what she had to say.

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I have learned that gratitude doesn’t always come in a pretty wrapped bow and certainly doesn’t come when you are expecting it.

Sometimes I don’t know what I am thankful for until days or years later. Some days I take for granted all that I have and realize how great it was when it’s gone.

Gratitude sometimes is surviving the worst thing you can imagine and realizing that you are still standing.

It’s when you realize that no one is any or less important than you are.

It’s when you lose your job that you hated and realize it wasn’t so bad because what you have now is way worse but there has to be something great just around the corner waiting for you.

It being around a person that has been around for 100 years and having him dish his secret.

It is very much that moment when someone who walked into your life for a short time, always remains in your heart forever. It’s the memories you never forget; the experiences that make you realize that we are all just waiting for that moment of gratitude to come.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
-Melody Beattie

More About Shelby

I originally met Shelby through a Meet-Up group in Milwaukee – Cooking in the City. If you are looking to find other friends that love real food, then may I suggest attending one of this group’s events or bring your dudes to a Food Dudes and Divas get-together. Shelby really knows how to find the most unusual experiences around town and who couldn’t use a couple new friends?