Cooking brings generations together. For private chef and TikToker Maddy DeVita (@handmethefork), spending time in the kitchen watching and learning her Nonna's recipes was the sweet cornerstone of their relationship. DeVita opened up in an emotional TikTok video (that has been viewed over 20 million times) that after her Nonna recently passed away at 96 years old, she inherited her Nonna's treasured 'sauce pot' that will forever hold a special place in her heart and kitchen.
"this pot is now my entire personality," she captioned the video.
@handmethefork this pot is now my entire personality
The video includes montages of DeVita and Nonna cooking together, followed by an emotional scene where her family gathered together to honor Nonna's legacy--and where she was gifted the sauce pot that had been in the family for 70 years. And TikTok got all the feels. "Now THIS is generational wealth ❤️," one viewer commented. Another wrote, "It's not just a pot, it's her legacy. You inherited her legacy 😭."
Part of a large Italian-American family, DeVita shared with PEOPLE that her Nonna had 7 children and 25 grandchildren. "Nonna was the true matriarch of my dad’s side of the family,” DeVita told PEOPLE. "She and my grandfather divorced when my dad was young, and it has taken me some time to wrap my head around the fact that she was a single mother of seven kids, worked throughout medical school and went on to have a career as a physician for over 60 years. She was a trailblazer in so many ways."
@handmethefork what a day 🥹
In another sentimental TikTok video, DeVita shared the exact moment she was gifted the pot from her uncle, who explained that the pot cost $4.95 at People's Drugstore, and that she received it as a wedding present in 1954. He also shared that his mom had taught him how to make risotto in the same pot. "Of course I immediately burst into tears. This sauce pot is just so special to all of Nonna's 7 kids, let alone all of her grandchildren," DeVita says in the video. "So to be entrusted with it just means the world. And it also means I will be having many, many, many Sunday dinners at my apartment which I am not complaining about."
DeVita also told PEOPLE that she began to learn her Nonna's recipes during the pandemic after realizing the recipes weren't written down anywhere. So she began posting videos of the two cooking together on her Instagram account.
"It kind of became a monthly tradition — I would go down to Paramus, we’d pick a new recipe and I would come ready with all the ingredients," she said. "It was so special to just have this kind of one-on-one time with her and bond over this shared interest in food."
Since inheriting the sauce pot, DeVita has been making meals in her Nonna's honor. The first one she cooked? Her meatball recipe.
@handmethefork “I’m not a big proponent of garlic… you just want the essence of the garlic in the oil”
"She led by example, always putting her family first. I think everyone feels that so much now that she's gone," she said. "I'm happy to say I definitely feel closer than ever to my family, and I think that's largely because of Nonna."
