Yes, exactly! That's exactly what you do.
he said that the fridge should not be connected in anyway to a GFCI because if we, for example, went on a long vacation and somehow the GFCI tripped we could come home to a very horrible rotting situation.
Yes, or even worse, the GFCI trips, the temperature rises, bacteria run amok... and then someone resets the GFCI for some other reason and it never occurs to them that the fridge lost power. So they do not warn the chef. The chef finds cold food as expected. No warning of failure.
They do make refrigerator alarms for that purpose. They monitor the fridge for loss of cold.
I can see that I can insert one set of Romex wires to the "line" on top and then insert another pair of wires on top just a quarter of an inch below or above the top connections.
Yes, the 2 little slots or holes that are directly under each screw.
I trust our electricians. They have been here at least three times fixing really horrible scenarios that are out of my league.
I rely on your claim there. Your local people know your local Codes, amendments, AHJ practices and whether the circuit is grandfathered based on your facts.
I will say that GFCI protection is generally required in garages. Local authorities (or local amendments) very commonly grant exceptions for refrigerators and freezers, but they want to see a receptacle set up that can only be used by the fridge, and is labeled as such. E.G.
