Paul -- Before And After

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003 - 8:00 a.m.

I'll write about the majority of the trip in future entries, but right now, let me tell you about how it ended.

On Thursday, September 11, I took a cab home from the bus station, because there's no way I was getting back on a city bus after just getting off of a bus I'd been on for over seven hundred miles. I just couldn't do it. At about half past three in the afternoon, I put my key in the door, and the phone began ringing. I let myself in, and shambled to the phone as quickly as I could, and saw that it was Paul. "I just got home, I -literally- just walked in," I said. I told him about the last part of the trip, thanked him again and again for his kindnesses, and unzipped my backpack to see if the salsa he sent home with me made it. It did. And it's delicious. "Glad you're home," he said. "When you get a chance to check your email, I finally sent out a 'Before and After' picture to everybody."

I picked up that email later in the evening, after I'd had a chance to relax, and call Cheri and tell her I was back, and see how my husband fared while I was away -- and I am compelled to share that letter, my response to that letter, (which I addressed to everybody he'd sent it to), and the images with you.

P@ul Schu!tz wrote:

OK, here it is. Comments appreciated so let me know what you think. I had my surgery on June 4th of this year and to some extent, I can say that I wouldn't do it again, but I was seriously looking at life or death ... so I was left with limited options. The after picture was taken just a couple of days ago.

The surgery has been extremely hard and I have been sick quite a bit as a result of it. My eating has so drastically changed that I really have lost a great deal of my desire for the expression of my cooking skills.

Okay, Paul. You asked for comments, so I'll address them to the group.

Hi, folks. My name is Brin-Marie McLaughlin, and I recently had the pleasure of travelling to Utah to meet Paul and his children.

First of all, congratulations on the weight loss, and thank you so very much for the before and after photos. You look fantastic, and if you had not been driving a car I recognized from photos, I might have otherwise missed you. You seemed pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed while I was there, so I'm glad the surgery brought such healthy changes to your physical condition.

I stayed in Utah for three days, and while I was there, Paul prepared every single meal I ate. I was never hungry -- at least not out of normal parameters -- and every time I ate, I ate beautifully and until I was satisfied. The dishes were healthy, balanced, elegantly presented, and were the highest examples of Paul's artistry.

Here is the interesting part: I lost -fifteen pounds- between leaving home and returning home. Granted, some of that might have been in the form of water being leeched out of me when I was crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats, or because I'm not used to the high desert and the drastic difference in humidity between there and where I live (San Francisco), but I honestly think the majority of it can be credited to the healthy diet I was on while I was there. And we also did a lot of walking, too!...

The entire visit was wonderful, but whenever Paul cooked something, it was almost like magic. I sat at his kitchen counter in a bar chair and just watched him prepare the meals. It was like clockwork. Paul got me to try certain vegetables I usually wouldn't even consider eating, and I even ate -bananas-, which I loathe and despise, when he cut them up and put them into a protein shake for breakfast.

I suppose what I'm trying to say with all of this is that it's my opinion that Paul has most certainly -not- lost his touch. Paul, there might not be the same sorts of sensory input as before you got your procedure, because there's certain things you can't have right now -- and I know it's been the most difficult thing you've ever done, to change your habits so utterly and completely. But it seems to me, based on how you fed me when I was there, that you have in fact retained all of your skills, and if anything, they've probably become better healthwise, than they were before.

Eating at your home and breaking bread with you and the children was an absolute joy, and something I will always treasure. Well, I mean there wasn't -literally- bread, but you get the idea. :) And for what it's worth, thanks for inviting me back again.

Anyway, for what it's worth, there's my feedback. Apologies if this was not interesting for all parties present.:)

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And here are the images he sent me:

Paul, I don't know when you'll see this post, but I want you to know how proud I am of your accomplishments, and that I am glad I came out to meet you and the kids. Thanks for taking such good care of me, and I'm really glad you're doing so well.

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