You may know Jim Gaffigan for his relatable stand-up about fatherhood, laziness, and food. The comedian, whose job it is to be funny, has recently been showing his softer side due to the fact that his wife Jeannie has been battling with a brain tumor.
Brain tumors seem to have a way of sneaking up on their victims without their knowing, and Jeannie was no exception.
People explains that Jeannie, who is a mother of five and a comedy writer, was passing her headaches off as symptoms of her understandably demanding lifestyle.
Jeannie, who is 47, told People, "I was a ticking time bomb, waiting to be paralyzed."
Her tumor was discovered in April. It was the size of an apple and had likely been growing for a year.
Luckily, Jeannie was able to undergo a successful surgery to remove the tumor just in time. As you can imagine, though, recovery is no walk in the park.
Thumbnail Photo: Instagram
Jeannie Gaffigan recently had brain surgery to remove an apple-sized tumor.
As a result of her procedure, she still cannot eat solid foods until she's further along in her recovery.
Still, Jim wanted to make their 14th anniversary special, and not let her condition get in the way of a romantic dinner.
In a post on Instagram, Jim explains that he reached out to his friend and celebrated chef, Mario Batali, for advice on where to take Jeannie for a delicious (and mostly liquid) meal.
Needless to say, Mario's suggestion went above and beyond.
He instructed Jim to simply bring Jeannie to Mario's own famous NYC restaurant Del Posto, where he created a custom menu just for Jeannie, including items like bread soup for the bread course, and frutti di bosco soup for dessert.
Jim writes:
I realize we live in strange, maybe even mean times. Like you, I read the news daily shaking my head with horror how humans treat other humans. But there are some amazing people out there.
When @jeanniegaffigan was diagnosed with a brain tumor so many friends, family and strangers stepped up to offer meals, help, encouragement and prayers. It really blew me away. Thank you so much for everything.
One friend was @mariobatali who with his wife Suzi sent over numerous elaborate gourmet meals to feed me, the kids and our helpers.
Last week I emailed Mario asking him to help me find a place for our 14th wedding anniversary.
I was trying to find a nice place for us to celebrate but given Jeannie can not comfortably eat solids I was hoping to find a place that did amazing soups (yes, in July.)
I knew Mario was on vacation but I hoped he could point me in the right direction.
Mario responded insisting that we come to @delposto that he would make sure we were well taken care of.
When we arrived we saw that Mario had created a custom tasting menu of various gourmet soups with accompanied wines or cocktails.
Of course the whole experience was insanely amazing but the generosity of kindness and compassion by Mario was most moving.
Thanks Mario.
Everything about this story is touching, from Jim's heartfelt desire to find a place to celebrate with his wife, to Mario Batali's open-hearted generosity and creativity in making his friend a special menu.
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