This is NOT Good-bye + Good Memories

This weekend was an emotional one. I went to a memorial for a friend from high school - to say good-bye - and those are never anything but heart-wrenching. So, when I went to a Bon Voyage!  party the following day, for some friends who are going to Denmark for a year, I smiled when I saw this:

NOTICE: This is NOT a good-bye party but a see-you-later PARTY! Love, D.

Thank goodness. I don't like good-byes.

But I do like seeing friends giggle and know that while a year is a long time, this foursome has forged bonds and have memories that will carry them through. And - even easier than when I was a kid and had to wait weeks for letters from friends who lived in other countries - these guys have email and blogs. We will still be able to share in each other's adventures despite the distance.

The kids talked about their favorite memories. They included...

Spring Break in the Snow

Easter at Point Lobos

There are too many to count, but I wanted to share these pictures of friendship and fun. My favorites!

Pasta Making

Picnics

Road Trips

Tidepooling

Holidays

Hikes

We will miss you guys so, so much...

looking forward to making many more memories with you next year.

Love from the Manns

Sapias, vina liques

Matt and I were part of the original 13 - thirteen students who began their high school careers at York School in Monterey a year early, as eighth graders. By the time we graduated five years later, our class had swelled to 32 with a few kids drifting in and out through the years. For the most part, it didn't matter who had arrived in eighth grade, ninth grade, or even transferred in as a junior. What it meant to me was that Matt and I shared many, many classes. From English to Physics and Chemistry to Choir, he was there. Most memorably, he and I were the only two in our class who slogged through five years of Latin when only two were required. By the fifth year, we began to bicker about what we should read. He wanted to read Pliny's war histories while I longed to read Ovid's love poetry; our teacher, Mr. Sturch, brokered a truce: two days a week I would read Ovid, two days a week Matt would read Pliny, and one day a week we would read whatever Mr. Sturch wanted us to read. Sounded reasonable.

Over the twenty years that have gone by since high school, Matt and I lost touch. But as many of us have, we reconnected through social media. And my family and I had the pleasure of brunching with Matt and his girlfriend Kim when they were in town for a family function. Since then, Matt followed my kitchen blog and commented on my recipes or my libation creations. Just a couple of weeks ago, I penned a blogpost about National Absinthe Day and the bottle I had picked up on my way home from work. "I think the St George is close to the best American absinthe," he wrote. I wondered which one he would have deemed the best, but I didn't ask. I should have because now I'll never know.

Though I wouldn't characterize my relationship with Matt as a close friendship, we were more than acquaintances. We were two people who had shared five years at a very small school; shared tables over meals, both as adolescents and adults; and shared a passion about good food and great drinks. Reading through the remembrances written by Matt's friends, I see a picture of a man who was giving and loving - one who constantly challenged the people around him to be better, to learn more, and to seize the day.

 For you, Matt, in Horace's words...

Tu ne quaesieris - scire nefas - quem mihi, quem tibi

finem di dederint, Leuconoë, nec Babylonios

temptaris numeros. Ut melius, quicquid erit, pati!

seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,

quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare

Tyrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi

spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida

aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

 You are missed. Wherever you are, don't forget: Sapias, vina liques (Be wise, strain the wine). Cheers!

—Camilla

Saying Good-bye

Today I went to a memorial service for a classmate that has left us far too soon. On my way out the door, my 11-year-old asked me where I was going...

R: Mom, where are you going?
C: I am going to a memorial this afternoon.
R: What's a memorial?
C: It's something that you have for someone who has died...to remember him or her and to say good-bye.
R: Take some tissues, then. You might need them.

I did. Wise boy.

me·mo·ri·al  

/məˈmôrēəl/

Noun Something, esp. a structure, that reminds people of a person or event. Intended to commemorate someone or something: "a memorial service in the dead man's honor". I was not looking forward to the memorial. I wanted to be sad all on my own. But there was something fantastic that happened there - I realized that though he is gone, he will live on in the hearts and memories of so many people! Matt, you are missed.

Alphabet Soup: Me. By the letters.

I saw this on a blog I follow and thought it would be a fun distraction this morning. Me. By the letters...

A. Attached or Single? Attached...for better or worse!

B. Best Friend? My husband, hands down. But I have several girlfriends who are pretty high up there as well.

C. Cake or pie? Tough call. I'm a seasonal sweets-eater. Rhubarb pie and cheesecake are a tie.

D. Day of choice? Sunday. I love hitting the trail with my boys early on Sunday for some family adventure, followed by cheese tasting, and - usually - a movie in the afternoon. It's a lazy, love-filled day.

E. Essential Item? Sunglasses

F. Favorite color? Emerald green or bubblegum pink

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms. Sour ones.

H. Hometown? Born in Austin, raised all over (Air Force kid), settled in Monterey, schooled in Berkeley, ran away to Rome, then back to California.

I. Favorite Indulgence? Date nights

J. January or July? Both but July is usually family-vacation month, so I'll go with that.

K. Kids? Two.

L. Life isn’t complete without? Good food, good wine, and good friends.

M. Marriage date? March 2000

N. Number of brothers/sisters? Zero.

O. Oranges or Apples. Not my favorites, but if I have to choose I like blood oranges.

P. Phobias? Rodents in my house.

Q. Quotes? Even falling on your face is a forward motion.

R. Reasons to smile? Many, many, many.

S. Season of choice? All of them. We have fun and make memories in each and every one.

T. Tag 5 People. Hmmmm....

U. Unknown fact about me? Hard to say. I think I'm a pretty open-book. How about that this bacon-loving gal was a vegetarian for almost a decade?! Or that when I met my husband, I didn't bake?!? It's hard to imagine now.

V. Vegetable? All of them! Except fava beans because I'm allergic.

W. Worst habit? I am severely lacking in the patience department. And I'm not very forgiving. If someone crosses me, that's pretty much the end of our relationship.

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Cannot remember the last Xray I've had. I'll go with ultrasound.

Y. Your favorite food? Depends on when you're asking. Right now. Rhubarb.

Z. Zodiac sign? Taurus born in the year of the ox. Yes, it shows.