Rachael Ray Says This Was The Most Heartbreaking Part Of Losing Her Home
Rachael Ray is one of the most recognizable TV chefs out there. In addition to hosting multiple cooking shows, Ray has written multiple cookbooks and has an extensive line of cookware.
Although it may be easy to think famous people have things easier than the average person, they're still human. And Ray's culinary success doesn't mean she's been immune to challenging events in her life. In September 2021, Ray's New York City apartment was destroyed by Hurricane Ida, per the New York Post. And in August 2020, the upstate New York home she shared with her husband, John Cusimano, burned to the ground in a fire, per News10. Ray has since been rebuilding her upstate home, as well as a new home in Italy, per Entertainment Tonight, but she's still feeling the effects of the loss.
After Ray's home was destroyed by the fire, it wasn't kitchen gadgets she was sad about losing — the 2020 blaze also destroyed some priceless mementos.
Rachael Ray lost her mom's letters in the fire
"We had to reevaluate everything in our lives," Rachael Ray told the "Good Morning America" hosts of losing her upstate home in a tragic fire. The chef added during the October 2021 conversation that the loss of her home involved the destruction of priceless memories of her mother. "When I finally figured out I lost my home, it was three o'clock in the morning, days later, when I realized I lost all of my mom's letters to me. And she has very bad macular degeneration, and it's very hard for her to write anything now," Ray explained. "And when I realized I had lost that, that's when I got really upset."
Losing everything you own is beyond comprehension. But as Ray's words emphasize, material goods are just that: material. Things that hold sentimental value, meanwhile, are irreplaceable.
In an August 2020 tweet after the fire, Ray stressed the importance of being grateful for what she didn't lose in the blaze. "Grateful that my mom, my husband, my dog ... we're all okay. These are the days we all have to be grateful for what we have, not what we've lost," Ray tweeted.