Ok, so here is my disclaimer--this post is a bit "tongue in cheek" but there is very much a ring of truth to it. Again, when I was creating this blog, I just tried to think about things that I never knew until I was going through this horrible event. And one thing that I learned is just how much people LOVE to send you casseroles when a death happens. And I know, they mean well. And if you are like me, as you grew up you saw your mother, and grandmothers, aunts, sisters and cousins do this time and time again when a death occurred. Its almost a tradition in the south--someone dies and every woman I know reaches for the casserole dish. ha! ha!
I have been guilty of it myself. As mu husband used to laugh and say when we talk about things that women just seem to "know" he would ask "Was this in that class all you girls got that we guys never learned?" And I would laugh and say "Yes, it was chapter 8 in the textbook" He would jsut shake his head and grin.
But seriously, I can tell you that I have heard other families also struggle with the result of having sooooo many casseroles donated when dealing with a death. You run outta space in the fridge, you try to send them home with others but many times no one lives close and they don't have room either. So what is the answer?
I can tell you one of the biggest blessings that came to us during my husband's death came by the way of our friends Robby and Carrie--they walked in one day with gift cards from people who had donated to the meal train--there were cards to restaurants and grocery stores. This was a lifesaver. It allowed me to send my kids or the neighbors who were there every day, to the store and not worry about giving them cash or a debit cards. This allowed them to go buy things like extra toilet paper for the house (you get lots of visitors and don't think about running out, but you do ;) or buy things like paper coffee cups or toothbrushes for those who are staying over, or even air mattresses and extra pillows and bedding or trash bags--you have a ton of trash when people are over eating the food that been brought in and no one thinks about running out of trash bags.
These gift card were a Godsend! When family members would come to me and say we were out of something or we needed to plan our next meal, we would go through the stack of gift cards and use those. Yes we appreciated the casseroles, but sometimes you are even too fatigued to heat up the food and drag out the paper plates. It was so nice to send someone for wings or pizza and not worry about the cost.
And if you don't wanna do gift cards, then just send what I mentioned above: trash bags, coffee cups, plates, sugars/creamers for coffee, plastic cutlery, toilet paper, bottled water, foil, Kleenex, or individual snacks for kids and adults like boxes of Little Debbie's, or granola bars. Grab and go individually wrapped items were awesome because not everyone feels like eating. Some just need small snippets of food to keep their energy up.
These are things that I don't think a lot of people think about, but that can really make like better for the family that is grieving. Casseroles are great, but rest assured, they are getting plenty of those. :)