Lil Hungry Monkey: In Memory of Richard Hardy Roberts and Jerry Lynn Rollins Roberts

My mother, Jerry, was born in Illinois, the oldest in her family of three children. She moved around a lot as her father was in the Army. She went to Hammond High School in Alexandria, VA and went to Radford College and was a member of Tri Sigma. She was a school teacher for one year and then decided to have more excitement by becoming a flight attendant for United Airlines. She met my father, Richard, an airline pilot and they married and relocated to Foster City, CA as SFO was their base. My father was born in Ruston, LA and spent most of his life in Sacramento, CA. He went to Mira Loma high school and UC Davis and was an SAE. He spent his life fishing, hunting, and flying. He shared all of his passions with us as well as his sense of adventure. He is the smartest man I have ever known.

My parents were amazing. They provided me with everything that I could have ever hoped for and more. My parents were also both very talented and bright. My mom was "better than Martha" when it came to decorating, cooking, creating, crafting, etc. She was the best party host I have ever met and always had the most delicious homemade foods. Together, my parents could tell the most hilarious stories.

My mom became a homemaker when I was in 4th grade and I am truly grateful for that. She was a homemaker to the fullest extent. Gourmet cook, kept an impeccable home, made crafts for school, created all of my Halloween costumes, and the list is endless. Most importantly, she was my best friend. There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't talk to one another on the phone and often several times a day once I moved to the East Coast. She provided a listening ear, wise advice, and often a warm bed and chocolate chip cookies when I needed it.

My first week as a resident in the hospital I received the worst phone call of my life. My mom called to let me know that my father had died unexpectedly (heart attack). One month later, my mother who was previously healthy, had a scheduled colonoscopy and was told she had cancer (multiple sites). She didn't even have time to grieve (they were married almost 35 years), and now was enduring surgery, then chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, she had an aggressive cancer with multiple primaries (likely genetic) and lived 18 months after her diagnosis. She never lost her caring attitude, her amazing sense of humor, her selflessness, and she was physically and emotionally beautiful up until her departure. She was one of a kind and anyone that was lucky enough to know her truly felt her absence in this world.

Multiple of my mom's friends asked me for her recipes and had suggested that she put together a cookbook for years. I had planned to do this until residency and motherhood took over and realistically, I probably never would feel truly finished with it. I decided to create a blog instead and one day when it seems full, I may try to create it into a book, dedicated to her.

As for the title of this blog. . . I created the blogsite but never posted when my first son was an infant. He was one chubby monkey who liked to eat ALL OF THE TIME. I also had a passion for monkeys that my parents themselves fed into, as evidenced by the three foot tall monkey butler that showed up in a 6 foot tall box when I was in medical school in Charlottesville, VA. They had seen it while traveling in New Orleans so had it shipped my way. It will greet you as you come through my door, although my toddler has now prevented me from keeping candy on it.

Monkey butler dressed up for the Sesame St Party

All of my mom's recipes I will label with "Jerry" and I will try to share the source if I know it (although some of the typewritten index cards don't have the source). Over time, I may share some recipes that I have found and enjoyed as well.