Inspiration Monica: What message can you share with other parents who may be experiencing something similar?
the chefs. It’s exciting to see where they eat and what they cook at home, as well as their favorite kitchen tools.
Carole: I think the thing the book gave me the most was the ability to put myself aside, and just soak him all in, memorize every feature of his face and tell him everything I wanted to tell him.
We also did a series of webisodes. About a year after TJ passed, my husband and I asked ourselves, “What would we do if there was anything in the world that we wanted to do?”
One thing I was really proud of was that my husband and I treated TJ just like a normal human being and we spoke to him like he was an adult. We would tell him everything that we were deciding for him. He wasn’t talking at this point but we would tell him, “TJ we’re having this procedure today; this is why we think it’s for your best interest.” The communication with TJ was really great because it allowed us to be present with him and to put all of my “stuff” on the shelf while I was with him. We put his quality of life first.
My husband had a career change from commercial real estate into photography, and I decided I wanted to be involved in food again so we started a blog called ChopSizzlePop.
Monica: Your life has taken a different turn since then because you’ve had the opportunity to write a book, and you and your husband have a food blog. How did you develop an interest in food? Carole: I’ve actually loved food my entire life. From the time that I was 8 years old and my parents told me I could do anything I wanted for my birthday, I wanted to go to the most exciting restaurants. The love of food has existed most of my life. I received an MBA overseas -- it was an international MBA and I specialized in Entrepreneurship. I loved creating something from nothing or creating something from scratch. And since I had such a love of food, I decided that I would focus on that. 2008 is when I started my food business in Chicago -food, websites, and events. And then we decided that we should go home and try the real estate because I really admired my dad and I liked his quality of life. But in the end, I realized that I love food and entrepreneurship the most, so I went back to that and it’s been that way ever since. I decided to become a food writer and now I’m also a food editor. Monica: What is the content of your food blog? Carole: We interview chefs to find out their favorite places to eat. We get chefs’ recommendations. We have a few podcasts but they’re mostly written interviews of favorite ethnic and sushi spots, and pizza places from all 42 | Exceptional People Magazine | January-February 2014
We went to Italy and we exchanged our time for work on an organic farm. It’s called Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) and we worked for 10 weeks harvesting olives, making cheese and working a gourmet bread and breakfast (B&B) so that we would have some awesome content and video content for our blog. It was great and we were trying to claim our lives again. We were putting a stake in the ground and deciding that we were going to do something that we loved and were happy about in the face of this great loss that we experienced. Monica: Would you say that even though you experienced this loss, it was an inspiration for you to move forward with new ideas? Carole: Absolutely. “Death makes you brave.” That is very true. Fear goes away. We thought, “What can we do? What is there left to be afraid of?” It was the impetus for us redefining our lives. We made career changes, we traveled to Italy for almost three months and we dove into those things to try to make our dreams a reality. It was all inspired by TJ. Monica: What would you say is your true perspective on life today and the principles you live by based on everything that has happened over the past few years? Carole: I would say go for your dreams. The thing I come back to for every decision in my life is does it make me feel alive? That’s how I live. I make decisions based on what makes me feel the most alive. Live loudly as far as loving, making your dreams come true and doing exciting things. Monica: How well is the Gift of the Lady Bug doing in terms of changing the lives of other kids and families?