Mondays with Mike: Yes, soup for you!

A few clicks (and a credit card) and Voila! Soup!

Here’s a plug for an online outfit that we highly recommend when you want to give some warm fuzzies to friends and loved ones: It’s called Spoonful of Comfort.

Basically, they’ll send your choice of soup to your lucky friend, in a giant jar, plus rolls, plus cookies, and they even throw in a nice stainless ladle.

We learned about it when a friend emailed me after he learned I’d been hospitalized for covid. He ended his email saying, “I’m going to send you soup.” I thought he was joking. But one day we got a big box with ice packs with poblano chowder, dinner rolls, chocolate chip cookies and the aforementioned ladle.

It was delicious, and we’ve sent a half dozen care packages since. (For the record, two chicken noodle, three chicken and rice, and one clam chowder.) I’m happy to say that every recipient has been as tickled as we were to receive our soup!

Our most recent went to our doctor friend, Colleen. Beth and Colleen have been fast friends since high school when both were waitresses at the Marshall Field’s Oak Room in suburban Oak Brook. Colleen was a great comfort to Beth during my stay at Northwestern Hospital. She’s been a great support for both of us during my recovery. And, especially early on, she asked questions that I could help her with because it was new to all of us, including the docs.

And so, what better way to say thank you than sending Colleen and her spouse some clam chowder!

We’ve been thinking about Colleen a lot lately, as covid has surged again, straining hospitals, doctors, and nurses. I’ve been thinking about every terrific person at Northwestern that got me through.

So apart from soup, let’s all say thank you to Colleen and all the medical professionals that we’re exhausting again: Wear your mask. It doesn’t matter who you plan to vote for. Let’s take care of the people who take care of us or they will not be able to take care of us.