This week, as we gobble up Thanksgiving traditions and the scents in the kitchen that bring us back to childhood memories, we bring you a story about the power of comfort food.
It is a Thanksgiving story, of sorts, that started in Ethiopia, where a little girl named Nigisti needed heart surgery. Doctors there sent her to Cincinnati Children’s. She arrived here as an orphan who missed home and the food she loved there. Her caregivers became concerned when she refused to eat, and they worried that she might not survive.
That’s when Yordanos Emahazion, a catering employee at Cincinnati Children’s, stepped in. She’s from Ethiopia, and she knew how to make Ethiopian comfort foods, like spongy bread and lentils, that Nigisti would eat. The two formed a friendship that was about more than just food. It was about the caring that went along with preparing it.
This week, as we give thanks for our loved ones, our traditions and our food, we’d like to celebrate their story as well.
Childrens is a special place for us and we are thankful to have them so close.