Food may be a means of sustenance for some, but it is a source of joy for Donna. Much of her life evolves around the planning and preparation of food, both professionally and personally. She worked at Whole Foods for three years. “I was a demo person,” she says. “I did meatless Mondays, I had my own recipes and I was happy.” 

Now retired, Donna scours the web for new recipes to try and improve with her own customizations. Her most recent discovery: kabocha squash soup. “I found [the recipe] on the computer. I kind of like to put my own spin on it… to me everything tastes better roasted. I roasted the squash first… I added a little coconut milk and it was really, really good.” 

Donna's passion for cooking can also be a source of frustrations at times. Having recently been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, she now has to be more careful about her diet and keep better track of what she eats, which can be difficult. “I’m trying to be diligent about what I eat, what I don’t eat, what I can have and what I can’t have,” she says. “It gets to be challenging because somehow I’m like, ‘What did I eat?’… I find that I have to go back to the book, because I can’t always remember what I can have all right.” 

Donna is focusing on developing a better system for organizing her recipes in order to accommodate her MCI. Still adjusting to life with MCI, she says, “It’s one thing to know you have something, and it’s another thing to accept that.”