To Blanche

Today is the day after the day I found out a close family friend lost her mother. It's one of those things that hits you in patches and reminds you of all things come and gone. The daughter of this particular woman is someone who sat with my mother in recovery  - after both women gave birth to their second child. For my mom, it was me. For this friend, it was a son. As you can imagine, our families have been intertwined for some time. So, we have all spent many holidays, major events and, of course, minor occurrences together.

Tonight, we made lamb with a cherry port sauce. We enjoyed it while watching a movie about family, life, tragedy and celebration. Though the characters in this film had  a very different path than the people in my life... the themes were universal. Thus, I can relate and in my relation I'm reminded of my mom, my family and most immediately, my friend's mom. It's a nice coincidence, then, that the cherries we used for dinner were from Michigan and were gifts from this same friend who lost her mom. 

In fact, we were all in Northern Michigan together this past summer. It's an exquisite place to visit and we were lucky to get there. We were especially lucky because we spent time with Blanche. My husband got to meet her, we got to have a nice happy hour with her and I got to say hello and good-bye for the last time.

So, thank you Blanche, for being part of my life. The fact that you left on your own terms and didn't neglect to have your final happy hour reminds me of my mom's final passage. The two of you are sharing a gin and tonic somewhere and we are, for now, enjoying these cherries in celebration of you.

Here is the recipe:

Lamb Chops with Dried Cherries and Port