To Whom Are You Drinking Right Now?

[Keithstg]

To Richard Keane and Bill Meehan.

[The Doctor]

To my dear friend Greg O’Neill, a kind-hearted, even-tempered optimist who passed away September 5. He was possibly known to some in this community as the founder of Greg’s List DC. The site serves as a curated social events calendar, through which he brought many people together, often for charitable causes. He also was quite accomplished in the field of gerontology, working to improve the lives of people as they age.

(Don, you met him at least once, when we did that sandwich tasting at BONMi a number of years ago.)

 

[dracisk]

2 hours ago, The Doctor said:

To my dear friend Greg O’Neill

I didn’t know him, but one of my friends was a close friend of his. Seems he touched the lives of many.

[DonRocks]

2 hours ago, The Doctor said:

To my dear friend Greg O’Neill, a kind-hearted, even-tempered optimist who passed away September 5. He was possibly known to some in this community as the founder of Greg’s List DC. The site serves as a curated social events calendar, through which he brought many people together, often for charitable causes. He also was quite accomplished in the field of gerontology, working to improve the lives of people as they age.

(Don, you met him at least once, when we did that sandwich tasting at BONMi a number of years ago.)

Wow, I remember that night vividly. I'm really sorry about Greg - it speaks very highly of him that he impacted so many people in such a good way.

[DaveO]

To Dave Anderson

Read his stories over many years.  Met him in his latter years and heard some of his stories related in the same humble way as described in the link.

[dcandohio]

DREW BREES.  Surpassed Peyton Manning’s all-time passing yards record, at home,  in front of a national audience on Monday night football, against the Washington team.  Drew came to New Orleans at a time when we desperately needed a hero, and he has been the hero ever since. Who Dat??!!!

"Drew Brees Passes Peyton Manning as NFL's All-Time Passing Leader" by Mike Triplett on espn.com

[DaveO]

53 minutes ago, dcandohio said:

DREW BREES.  Surpassed Peyton Manning’s all-time passing yards record, at home,  in front of a national audience on Monday night football, against the Washington team.  Drew came to New Orleans at a time when we desperately needed a hero, and he has been the hero ever since. Who Dat??!!!

Congrats to Saints fans.   He didn’t just break the record he is mutilating the Snyderskins.  Masterful performance

[DaveO]

12 hours ago, dcandohio said:

DREW BREES.  Surpassed Peyton Manning’s all-time passing yards record, at home,  in front of a national audience on Monday night football, against the Washington team.  Drew came to New Orleans at a time when we desperately needed a hero, and he has been the hero ever since. Who Dat??!!!

"Drew Brees Passes Peyton Manning as NFL's All-Time Passing Leader" by Mike Triplett on espn.com

Not only did Drew Brees break the all time record, pitch an incredible game with virtually all catches; no missed passes; destroy the Snyderskin defense in the process and lead his team to a romp....

but he disrupted the preparation of a family wedge salad.  Damn.  Now that is mighty big!!!!   Watch the video:  

[dcandohio]

35 minutes ago, DaveO said:

Not only did Drew Brees break the all time record, pitch an incredible game with virtually all catches; no missed passes; destroy the Snyderskin defense in the process and lead his team to a romp....

but he disrupted the preparation of a family wedge salad.  Damn.  Now that is mighty big!!!!   Watch the video:  

The Mannings have always been a very classy family.  And they have boundless love for New Orleans, so I’m sure there is some part of Peyton Manning that feels joy for New Orleans even as he watches his record go down in flames.

[JPW]

To my 11 dead neighbors (May your memories be blessings), to the 4 Pgh cops wounded trying to save them, to the Jewish community, to Squirrel Hill - the place where I grew up, to my sister who has let CNN and MSNBC set up in her front yard because she lives across the street from Tree of Life, to everyone, everywhere, still as shook as I am by Saturday's terrorist attack.

[DaveO]

On 10/29/2018 at 8:16 PM, JPW said:

To my 11 dead neighbors (May your memories be blessings), to the 4 Pgh cops wounded trying to save them, to the Jewish community, to Squirrel Hill - the place where I grew up, to my sister who has let CNN and MSNBC set up in her front yard because she lives across the street from Tree of Life, to everyone, everywhere, still as shook as I am by Saturday's terrorist attack.

I’m not drinking or commemorating on this.  For probably about 50 years this fear has sat in the back of my mind.  History, education, my cultural experiences, all warn of this horror.  To those folks in Squirrel Hill and the Jewish community of Squirrel Hill; to the dead and their families and friends I grieve for them.  

To add I saw this piece written by a young author, new mother, and the daughter of an old friend.  It captures some of what has sat in the back of my head all these decades:  it may rarely surface but it never leaves.

Link

[bookluvingbabe]

Another fuck cancer night.  To my colleague who took a diagnosis of pancreatic and bile duct cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes 4 plus years ago and got more time than anyone imagined or expected until the chemo stopped working over the summer. Cancer sucks.  (Hearing about a colleague's death while out of town at a work conference sucks too.  Especially when it is all you can do not to burst into tears until you can get safely to your hotel room...)  

[DaveO]

To my mother who passed away a little more than a month ago at an age of slightly more than 101 and 1/2.   

A while ago I learned if you speak and write about these hurts it helps you recover faster.  Even as she had been in hospice care for a while following an illness we (and she) thought was going to be the end—she bounced back from that rather well and was out for dinner at Thanksgiving.   

As prepared as I thought I was afterwards I’ve felt a big gap.  Deep down I believed she was going to live forever.

She outlived every peer, friend and relative save one hearty gent seemingly still going strong at 104, whose and he were good friends of my parents 

Three aspects of her life come to mind.  As we cleaned out her apartment and reviewed a lifetime of photos, it struck more deeply than ever before how well she did friendship.  

She had photos dating back to her’s and my dad’s earliest years and all periods thereafter.  Among the photos from her teens into her early 20’s before she married were shots with friends.   Some of those friends stayed as lifelong friends - till the friends passed away, the last one about 4 years ago that was roughly a very close friendship for about 75 years.  There were photos of friends where I know the friendships exceeded 60+ years and they were dedicated friendships.   My mom was a phenomenal friend, and we knew it, but the photos put a more definitive element to it than I knew or appreciated.

This being a food forum- my mom became an excellent cook, starting from terrible when she married my dad, and progressing to often acclaimed, with sometimes awe from my SIL, the gourmet cook, former cooking teacher, and former tour leader of organized trips visiting 3 star restaurants in France.  

Who am I to judge, but I knew her cooking was far better than that of my aunts and of the few mom’s of friends whose homes I ate at.  My mom took classes and worked at it.  In the earliest days of this endeavor my dad tactfully used the description “interesting” for the meals that were “weak” and the term passed through the decades and was used by mom’s grandkids, but the “interesting” meals  became incredibly infrequent over time; certainly far less than once a year!!  BRAVO

And boy she cooked in quantity—all the time.  Funny story from my early college days:

I had a friend who asserted he could outeat and embarrass any Mom, always eating more food than the cloud place on the table.   I took him up on that bet as I had complete faith in my mom.  She didn’t know of the bet when I invited him to our house for a stay over and dinner.

She crushed him after his many seconds and thirds of multiple dishes when he finally pushed away a plate and admitted it was too much.  I was quite proud of her that evening—let alone a wee bit wealthier.  

Lastly she was a mom to the amazing Very end.  Over the last period she was heavily drugged due to her illnesses but also horrific pain from bone injuries.  On the last day of good consciousness she spoke a bit but grew weaker.  My SIL and I were sitting with her describing the family dinner the night before at my sisters.  It was fun, animated, had a funny aspect, and very loving.   As we finished the story she had a great smile and clapped.  My lord that made her happy.  She went into the last stage of unconsciousness after that and passed in her sleep somewhat after.   

Anyway my experience is that writing and speaking of the mental anguish helps to move it along.

My mom never drank much maybe little wine, and I’m sipping a Cabernet to her memory

[DonRocks]

43 minutes ago, DaveO said:

To my mother who passed away a little more than a month ago at an age of slightly more than 101 and 1/2.   

...

My mom never drank much maybe little wine, and I’m sipping a Cabernet to her memory

I hope I can speak for the community, Dave, when I say how sorry I am about your mother. This was a touching tribute, and she sounds like an amazing lady who certainly got the most out of a well-led life. There's no question from reading this that she had a big impact on your life.

Kind regards and all my sorrows. My mom passed away almost eight-years ago, and I can promise people that you never stop missing your mother.
Don

[DIShGo]

To Leonard Thompson, the first recipient of an insulin injection, 97-years ago today.

"How a Boy Became the First To Beat Back Diabetes" by Dr. Howard Marketl on pbs.org

[Keithstg]

To Frank Robinson. What an incredible person. We were very fortunate to have him in D.C.