After three tragedies in a row, Rachael Ray is keeping a good attitude.
The affable chef experienced a flood, a fire and the death of a family dog within about 18 months, but she's somehow remained "grateful."
Asked what exactly she's grateful for, she told "Extra," "Being alive… When I lost my dog I was so grateful that I could be with her the last several month of her life… She died in my arms… I felt guilty and grateful at the same time… People suffered actual human loss from COVID or because they couldn't get care… and how many people died alone."
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In summer 2020, an inferno broke out at the upstate New York home she shared with her husband, John Cusimano. The blaze was started by accident in a chimney. The fire-damaged home was located in a fairly remote area where there were no nearby fire hydrants. Firefighters had to use pond water to douse the blaze. Then, just last month, her New York City apartment was ravaged by Hurricane Ida.
"The fire, the chimney burped under the roof, that's just life. So many people wrote to me and reached out and said we lost so much too, I mean that's just bad luck," she said. "The apartment, we weren't there… Leaks became bigger and the roof became worse and we thought we had repaired everything… then Ida… the whole apartment, was just raining inside."
With a lot on her plate, Rachael still has a lot to smile about, including the forthcoming 16th season of "The Rachael Ray Show" and her new book, "This Must be the Place."
"This is really a different book. 'This Must be the Place'…The book is about what makes a home… Our house was taken to nothing… Neither of us cried while it was happening," she said. "I wanted to talk about what home is and when you lose it you truly understand it's truly like the song, it's a state of mind and it's who you're with and being present in a life that matters to you, that's what home really is so I wanted to write that all down, so I did."
