Dear Matteo, Thank You

Thank you Matteo for being a great guy.

It was before the October 2023 retreat and I was a mess. I was standing with my kids at the park in Tamarindo and in my head. My marriage was falling apart and I had a retreat coming up and for whatever reason wanted to hire only women. I was looking for Alexis or Sharon, who are both beautiful chef women but they weren’t there that day.

You were.

I think we were chatting about your house or our kids or the bouncey house or something. In any case, I brought up my retreat and the dates and you were free and eager for the job. And I trusted my gut and thought, “You could hire him to be your chef.”

The retreat was suppose to be all women and still I felt safe in your presence which meant a lot to my central nervous system. So thank you Matteo, for being the best vegan chef in Tamarindo.

You were the chef for both of my retreats in 2023, the retreats that were dreamed up way before July 2023 happened in my life and I am so grateful that you trusted me enough to be the chef for my retreats.

You probably didn’t know how much fear I had in moving forward with my life and my business but as I watched our children play, the only thought I could come up with, is ~ “This or Better” and Matteo you were the better chef and the chef that I feel was suppose to be there at the park that day.

I am so garateful for our friendship and for the food that kept me alive that week as my refridgerator lay bare in my quiet one bedroom apartment across town.

I still delight in your hot sauce that I put on my eggs every morning.

I am happy our paths crossed and I hope to work with you in the four Elemental Retreats this year.

As the man that made me food that I could swallow again, I love you and I love our friendship.

Dear Matteo,

Thank you.

All my love,

Virginia