Hey, you! 🥹
I was told that this series was sad and I was gonna cry, but boooooyyyy, I didn't think for one second that I was going to be this moved. The last time this happened to me was after watching the Turkish movie, 7. Koğuştaki Mucize or Miracle in Cell No. 7, on Netflix. By the way, you absolutely have to watch this movie if you haven't done so yet! And I absolutely have to write a review about it here!
From Scratch is a heart-breaking tale of a woman named Amy Wheeler (portrayed by the amazing Zoe Saldaña). Amy is an aspiring artist who goes to Italy on a study-abroad program. In Italy, she meets a Sicilian chef, Lino Ortolano. There are so many differences between them including culture, language, and background, but they fall in love. As they embark on their journey together in life, they are faced with many many many challenges.
From Scratch has so many layers to it that only a true-to-life story could have . Because life's like that. It's never easy and there's just always something there. Even when you think you're out of the woods, there is just always something there.
But ultimately, it is a story of love. Love in different shape and form.
Self-Love. Realizing that something is missing in your life and that no matter what you do, there is a hole waiting to be filled. Believing that you deserve more than what you've been given. Reaching for your happiness even if it means going to the other side of the globe. Taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others.
Intercultural love. There are no rules when it comes to falling in love. Love has no color. It has no nationality and no borders can stop it. You never really know who you're going to fall in love with in life. Intercultural love is falling in love with someone you were not "supposed" to meet. It's a hard kind of love. It's understanding your partner's views and at the same time, not forgetting your own. It is also about patience, adaptation, flexibility, and constant communication (sometimes even in a different language!). But through love, all is possible - right?
Family Love. There's the family that you are born into and then there's the one you choose.
Family love is the kind that's comforting. It's the one that affects your emotional well-being. It's a love that is shared with the people you can't live without - the ones you turn to during bad and good times. It's not perfect but it's deeply attached.
Enduring Love. After the honeymoon period comes the real challenge - working on growing the relationship. This is where "through thick and thin" is really tried and tested. Going through the toughest of times, seeing the worst traits in your partner, overcoming high obstacles together and realising you'd rather go through all of that as long as she / he is there beside you than without. An enduring love is knowing exactly what you're fighting for.
And then there's the After-Love. What happens when ... Letting go of the dream of opening your own restaurant because cancer has decided otherwise. Losing abruptly a loved-one at the most unexpected of times. Becoming a young widow with a child to raise solo. How do you pick yourself up and take that first step forward? Most times, you don't know how, all you know is you have to.
From the amount of tears I shed, I feel like I had a tissue box for each of those love portrayed in this series. Several scenes were just so heartbreaking! Life is indeed unexplainable - a mystery to be lived. How else would you explain meeting your better half, having your dreams just within your reach, before seeing everything just burst into flames in front of your eyes? Life is indeed extremely unfair!
Personally, I have my own cancer story. We hear about cancer victims and survivors (God bless them 🙏), but what about the family? What are we called? Hmmm ... just a thought that's been in my head lately. Because ... the evil truth about cancer is that once it's there, it's always there. Saying otherwise would be giving false hope. Because even if there are no cancer cells detected in the system anymore, the constant paranoia and worry that it might come back anytime is definitely there. That, sadly, never really leaves.