Julia Childs was not able to have children. She was infertile. Even though the movie did not focus on that particular reality in her life, it was shown. To a woman who is going through the same journey, it spoke loud and clear to me. Really it was shown in very little ways, if you blink, you will miss it. Looking longingly at a baby in a pram passing her in a street. Trying to figure out what to do with all the time that she has. Trying to figure out what it is that she likes to do. Receiving a letter from her sister telling her that her sister is in fact pregnant and falling into tears, tears of joy, tears of grief. Even after she had worked 8 years on getting her cook book published only to be rejected by a publisher she looks at her husband and says "Was this just 8 years of me having something to do?"
I can relate. I am on a constant search for something to do, something that will delight me and give me joy even after a hard days work. I wonder if anyone in this situation finds that. Finds the thing that fills the void of being childless, that not only occupies your time, but gives you joy and a sense of accomplishment. Julia found joy in cooking. I like that
No to mention that her relationship with her husband was really something. They loved each other and were true to each other, even though their love was unable to produce life, they were passionate about each other. They were goofy too! I found this poem that her husband wrote for her on her birthday.
O Julia, Julia, cook and nifty wench,
Whose unsurpassed quenelles and hot souffles,
Whose English, Norse and German, and whose French,
Are all beyond my piteous powers to praise –
Whose sweetly rounded bottom and whose legs,
Whose gracious face, whose nature temperate,
Are only equaled by her scrambled eggs:
Accept from me, your ever-loving mate,
This acclamation shaped in fourteen lines
Whose inner truth belies its outer sight;
For never were there foods, nor were there wines
Whose flavor equals yours for sheer delight.
O luscious dish! O gustatory pleasure!
You satisfy my taste buds beyond measure.
How delightful! How encouraging! A life and love not derailed by infertility. It's easy to feel like damaged property, like if your husband had know that you could not make a baby, he would have chosen someone else. Julia and Paul were madly in love and they had a great sex life. And by the grace of God, the same is true for Chris and I, and even though I have days that I feel otherwise, I know that Chris chose me for me, not because of my child bearing hips :). Infertility can shatter such things in a marriage. If you have never experienced it, you probably don't fully understand and I don't blame you, but to me, this is like a light at the end of a tunnel.
2009 was a year that was derailed by infertility. I was hopeless and frankly, terribly depressed. I believe that God thinks outside the box to get our attention or at least He has to with me. I was void of encouragement, no matter how many times I read about the life and faith of women in the Bible that were barren, no matter how many well meaning people tried to encourage me to "wait on God's timing". It took something like a movie about cooking to snap me out of a funk.
Thank you God for the life of Julia Childs.
