Art and Ideas • Created January 15, 2017 02:00

Five books for the Ethereal Josephine Amodu

1) SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS by James Vollbracht. This book is important for this collection because of the way in which Josephine showed big and small kindnesses to everyone from Mechanics to taxi drivers who she adopted. She was a good cook and would cook up a storm even if it was just two people […]

Five books for the Ethereal Josephine Amodu

1) SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS by James Vollbracht. This book is important for this collection because of the way in which Josephine showed big and small kindnesses to everyone from Mechanics to taxi drivers who she adopted. She was a good cook and would cook up a storm even if it was just two people visiting. And when you tell her this is a waste of food, she goes “ You never know who would drop by”. She fed security guards in my house and would take food to neighbours who didn’t even talk to her. She lit up every room she entered. This book in her honour is to teach us how to be kind to one another in a difficult world like ours. Small Acts of Kindness depicts how one small act of kindness ripples through all of life and results in a surprising and moving great act of love. Be sure to get a copy.

2) ANY COOK BOOK: Josephine experimented with food and was always creating one new recipe or the other. She was always trying to get all of us to taste her newest recipe and I found with my sister that food can inspire friendships and create large communities. Because she cooked so well, she was always at loggerheads with my mum in the kitchen who would say, “Go and sit I will do the cooking”. And she will go, “No, I have a new recipe in my head and I need to try it out.” My mum had traditional old fashioned recipes, Josephine had adventurous, daring, modern recipes and sometimes a cook book in hand. I am today the beneficiary of all of this. I love cooking and so today, I am a combination of Josephine’s recipes, my mother’s and my own recipes. Josephine built bridges with food. I urge you in 2017 to be like her. Make peace with food. Make friends with food. Feed the hungry. Buy a cook book and experiment.

3) When one loses a dear one, it seems like there is a hole in your heart. I lost my sister. I didn’t believe I would recover. But the human mind is created to be elastic and while you will never forget the person, you can heal. That healing process is critical because if you cannot heal, grief can kill you. If you have just recently lost someone, I sympathise deeply with you but you have to pick up coping mechanisms to ensure you do not slide into depression that can kill you. If it is a child that has passed, you need to stay alive for the other children. If it is a spouse, you need to be strong for your family. If it is a friend, you need to tell yourself that they would much rather you carried on. HEALING AFTER LOSS by Martha Whitmore Hickman is recommended for all those that have lost loved ones. This book of light comforting thoughts written by a mother after the death of her 16 year old daughter in an accident provides tiny shafts of light in the grieving times of darkness. Remember also that it’s okay to cry. It’s cathartic. Don’t pile up your pain.

4) Josephine loved children. She was survived by a lovely daughter but every sister’s or brother’s child was hers. She was famous for bringing home a neighbour’s child for the night. And when you ask her the reason she goes, “This is our neighbour’s child. I went to their house and he won’t let me go. So I decided to bring him home to spend the night.” That was our Josephine and her love for children. In remembrance of her and her love for children, IF YOU PLANT A SEED by Kadir Nelson is recommended. This is a gently humorous story about the power of even the smallest acts and the rewards of compassion and generosity. With breathtaking paintings, the book not only demonstrates the process of planting and growing for young children but also how a seed of kindness can bear sweet fruit.
 
5) I WASN’T READY TO SAY GOODBYE: SURVIVING, COPING & HEALING AFTER THE SUDDEN DEATH OF A LOVED ONE: When Josephine passed, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye but then again who is ever ready to part with a loved one. This book by Brook Noel and Pamela Blair; two women who have been there themselves, tells their stories in this great grief management book then provides a helpful hands-on approach to dealing with grief. The book offers practical exercises for working through the mourning process. It is especially helpful for grief during the first weeks after a sudden tragic loss.

 

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