Roger Ebert wrote an touching ode to food and drink today, two things he is unable to enjoy after the cancer surgery that removed most of his jaw. He talks about his memories of root beer, Steak n' Shake, but most revealingly, he addresses the question: “Isn't it sad to be unable eat or drink?”
He says:
“Not as sad as you might imagine. I save an enormous amount of time. I have control of my weight. Everything agrees with me. And so on.
What I miss is the society. Lunch and dinner are the two occasions when we most easily meet with friends and family. They're the first way we experience places far from home. Where we sit to regard the passing parade. How we learn indirectly of other cultures. When we feel good together. Meals are when we get a lot of our talking done — probably most of our recreational talking. That's what I miss.”
I won't give away his last and most brilliant line, which left a lump in my throat. So you'll have to READ THE WHOLE THING YOURSELF.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.