Zack Freeling Emotional Tribute

food for thought [Music] a lot of things can be transmitted through food we send messages of artistic value as their culinary arts but what if you used it to actually inspire people to speak up about what's going on inside their heads something that's very intangible but intangible medium food it's a very complicated task but it's super easy it's me saying hey what's up my name is zach freeling in 2013 i lost my brother to suicide and in 2015 two years later after that seed had been planted it actually blossomed into arya's kitchen [Music] a kosher food truck yes but simultaneously a product between the love for a grieving father who wanted to connect and support his son me and his passion for cooking and do something to make a difference and it's funny because despite we had you know great success in the beginning that grief really does weigh on you and we learned a lot from that and that unfortunately after my father took his own life in 2017 just as i had concocted a plan to bring it back as a non-profit what i call arya's kitchen 2.0 which is still running at vanderbilt's campus um [Music] he kind of threw in the towel does it still make me sad upset was i angry i don't really know all i knew was that i had something more to do and sure i was doing it to create to finish what was built and a lot of people say you do it for your dad of course i do i do for my family but that means [Music] i'm doing it for myself because the greatest thing you can do you've lost a loved one for them is to continue to push on and keep fighting and try to make a difference if you can or reach out if you need help after my mother passed away in 2020 me being the only person remaining in my immediate family ak-3 [Music] just like the first i was born as i made my mom a promise on my life my last conversation with her at night saying mom your son's gonna be happy healthy and successful and um we'll have grandkids someday next day she died and today all of us have been through so much [Music] but the one thing i want to say is the pain of being on this planet will never outweigh the good that tomorrow has to bring so keep fighting [Music] stay in the kitchen no matter the heat