My god Laurie, your writing is so beautiful— it fills my heart. You catch me at the most vulnerable point in my day—upon awakening— and I feel so held (that is, when I allow myself and am not already swallowed whole by everything I think I have to do). Sitting here by the fire, my Lisa in her comfy chair, our Ridgeback Atticus on the sofa around the L from me, covered completely by a blanket except for his nose, the fog rolled in all around our little house by the Pacific Ocean, a million miles away from Warren Street (Lisa and I had met and shared an earlier life on Morton), and I’m wishing you and Richard the happiest of anniversaries and the coziest of lives.
You’re the only person whose ephemera is worth holding onto in the reading. October is a wonderful month for getting married. I’m very happy for you and Richard.
Dear Michael, We're not married! We met on October 4 18 years ago. Thanks for all your support. I hope the writing isn't ephemera. It gets collected into books, and you know how annoying books are about sticking around. All best, L
Oh Laurie, my use of the word ephemera was intentional — your writing is anything but ephemeral! And speaking from experience, October is a wonderful month for getting married! Also.
I think your books will stick around a good long time!
You’ve a beautiful smile Laurie - with obvious happiness in your face (in part because your Richard has such artsy aqua eye glasses!).
“Plotzing from exhaustion” : What can exquisite term ! First I’ve heard it (I’m from the Land Downunder - an Aussie) … I can imagine all the ways one might use this verb ‘to plotz’ …. but keen to check on the US accepted lingo.
As in, for example,
“I was so tired I plotzed (fell) asleep?”
“I plotzed myself so hard I couldn’t keep playing the [insert any sports game]”
“I plotzed (clutzed) the presentation up; nobody got it”
Am I getting warmer or cooler? Lolol
I’d be happy to teach you ‘Strayan [aka Australian]
Hey love, it was pretty hard to figure out where to snug that line. I'm not surprised it winked at you. Will you be able to come to the Zoom on Oct. 19? I don't remember if you're signed up. If not, shoot me an email if you can make it. xxL
I’m not yet. I usually wait till a bit closer lest I have to bow out last minute. I’d love to attend. Busy-ness has kept me from the last couple, and I miss them. Will email soon. ;)
I'm somewhat older than you, Laurie, but also, like you, lucky to have been married (in my case for 43 years) to the true love of my life and my best friend. Thanks for reminding me of my blessings in that regard, and congratulations. I love the photo, btw.
oh, i love this line: "a brain that is a dog, sniffing around at everything"! and this: "Everything was white, and it covered the steps we’d taken to arrive here. When I look back, I’m a ghost who’s never going to leave." what you wrote about seymour is also the definition of love. and i'm scared of my generator too! how nice to know i'm not alone.
I work in food service as a private chef, and I’ve had those same thoughts as I prepare and serve food in people’s homes, it’s like watching a reality tv show microcosm of the human condition, and I notice things like the children playing by themselves or with their nanny. I manage to make decent money feeding wealthy people which is wild to me, since most of my career was slogging away in sweaty kitchens for $12/hr. I’ve wondered how long I can keep this up, standing on my feet for 10 + hours a day (you are correct, good food takes time).
I really appreciate your writing Laurie, and I appreciated when you wrote about André. It happened to me too as a kid, by my grandfather, and I’ve never shared it publicly but my close friends know. I fantasized about sharing it on social media in the ‘me too’ era, but I’m glad I didn’t. This space you’ve created feels different from social media, it feels safe, and I know that’s probably an illusion but here I am me ‘too-ing’ and it feels like you’re the only one who will read this. Anyway, thank you.
Dear Heidi, I'm glad you feel a measure of freedom here. It's the mood I hope to stir up. It's always interesting to writ about food and food service, there is so much physical detail and the vantage point of looking out when others aren't noticing what you do. Thanks, chef. xxL
I love it that you married at 60. You look so happy in that picture.
I married, or that is re-married, at 40. That isn't like 60 but it's not like 27 either which is how old I was when I first married. That ended up like that Percy Sledge song.
That is, the penultimate verse. Funny how that video brought a tear to my eye all these 38 years on, even though in retrospect, thank you GOD that I did not spend my life with that woman! "The Real Deal" and I have been married 34 years. I have never been happier.
Some magical day I will make it to one of your Zoom meetings. On the 19th The Real Deal and I will be visiting friends and probably at the Sheep and Wool Festival during the time of the meeting. I'm old but it's not like I have nothing to do.
I thank God every day that I have fun things to do and I am still in good enough shape to do them.
My god Laurie, your writing is so beautiful— it fills my heart. You catch me at the most vulnerable point in my day—upon awakening— and I feel so held (that is, when I allow myself and am not already swallowed whole by everything I think I have to do). Sitting here by the fire, my Lisa in her comfy chair, our Ridgeback Atticus on the sofa around the L from me, covered completely by a blanket except for his nose, the fog rolled in all around our little house by the Pacific Ocean, a million miles away from Warren Street (Lisa and I had met and shared an earlier life on Morton), and I’m wishing you and Richard the happiest of anniversaries and the coziest of lives.
This is beautiful! I love the images and the fog and the dog nose. xxL
Happy belated anniversary. 😊 I love how you flow from one story into another and how the generations blend, memories unifying with the present.
Thanks! Yes, that’s the technique with time.
You’re the only person whose ephemera is worth holding onto in the reading. October is a wonderful month for getting married. I’m very happy for you and Richard.
Dear Michael, We're not married! We met on October 4 18 years ago. Thanks for all your support. I hope the writing isn't ephemera. It gets collected into books, and you know how annoying books are about sticking around. All best, L
Oh Laurie, my use of the word ephemera was intentional — your writing is anything but ephemeral! And speaking from experience, October is a wonderful month for getting married! Also.
I think your books will stick around a good long time!
Affectionately,
Michael
Thanks!
Wonderful. Happy anniveresary! I found such love when I was 53, we married when I was 55 -- the best adventure.
Happy for you! xxL
❤️ ♥️ 💜
You’ve a beautiful smile Laurie - with obvious happiness in your face (in part because your Richard has such artsy aqua eye glasses!).
“Plotzing from exhaustion” : What can exquisite term ! First I’ve heard it (I’m from the Land Downunder - an Aussie) … I can imagine all the ways one might use this verb ‘to plotz’ …. but keen to check on the US accepted lingo.
As in, for example,
“I was so tired I plotzed (fell) asleep?”
“I plotzed myself so hard I couldn’t keep playing the [insert any sports game]”
“I plotzed (clutzed) the presentation up; nobody got it”
Am I getting warmer or cooler? Lolol
I’d be happy to teach you ‘Strayan [aka Australian]
It’s Yiddish, not American but New York search for its uses that way. xxL
I thought it was pronounced "Strine." I worked with Aussies for 15 years. I think of it as English askew.
It is indeed English gone askew…. Some of us Aussies use the colloquial self-deprecation
“ I’m from ‘Straya”
“As a child, when I discovered I had a vagina, I gained a new respect for doors.”
It’s lines like this that make me adore your writing. Seductive lines. ;)
Love the doors into you and Richard’s (or, I should say, the characters Laurie and Richard) worlds. Happy anniversary!
Hey love, it was pretty hard to figure out where to snug that line. I'm not surprised it winked at you. Will you be able to come to the Zoom on Oct. 19? I don't remember if you're signed up. If not, shoot me an email if you can make it. xxL
You found the perfect spot.
I’m not yet. I usually wait till a bit closer lest I have to bow out last minute. I’d love to attend. Busy-ness has kept me from the last couple, and I miss them. Will email soon. ;)
I'm somewhat older than you, Laurie, but also, like you, lucky to have been married (in my case for 43 years) to the true love of my life and my best friend. Thanks for reminding me of my blessings in that regard, and congratulations. I love the photo, btw.
Congrats to you! We’re not married. xxL
Gotcha. Careless of me. Congratulations, whatever yhe rubric!
Poor monkeys laundering… I hope they enjoy it 😕. What a fun read, thank you and happy anniversary!
Always an A ride. Sometimes scary, but that's price you pay for magic.
Scary! I like that! xxL
oh, i love this line: "a brain that is a dog, sniffing around at everything"! and this: "Everything was white, and it covered the steps we’d taken to arrive here. When I look back, I’m a ghost who’s never going to leave." what you wrote about seymour is also the definition of love. and i'm scared of my generator too! how nice to know i'm not alone.
Hello sweet baby girl. Miss you up here! xxL
"we have entered the alter kakers portion of our program. I don’t care."
I use the Anglicized old fart. I'm adjusting... We celebrated our 17th on the autumn equinox. “Every day with us is a mitzvah.” Quite.
"I was 60 years old, and he was 56." And yes, when we met, I was 60 and she was just about 10 years younger.
==Recently Lit Hub named Everything is Personal one of the seven best literary publications on Substack.==
Glad I'm in good company.
I work in food service as a private chef, and I’ve had those same thoughts as I prepare and serve food in people’s homes, it’s like watching a reality tv show microcosm of the human condition, and I notice things like the children playing by themselves or with their nanny. I manage to make decent money feeding wealthy people which is wild to me, since most of my career was slogging away in sweaty kitchens for $12/hr. I’ve wondered how long I can keep this up, standing on my feet for 10 + hours a day (you are correct, good food takes time).
I really appreciate your writing Laurie, and I appreciated when you wrote about André. It happened to me too as a kid, by my grandfather, and I’ve never shared it publicly but my close friends know. I fantasized about sharing it on social media in the ‘me too’ era, but I’m glad I didn’t. This space you’ve created feels different from social media, it feels safe, and I know that’s probably an illusion but here I am me ‘too-ing’ and it feels like you’re the only one who will read this. Anyway, thank you.
Dear Heidi, I'm glad you feel a measure of freedom here. It's the mood I hope to stir up. It's always interesting to writ about food and food service, there is so much physical detail and the vantage point of looking out when others aren't noticing what you do. Thanks, chef. xxL
I love it that you married at 60. You look so happy in that picture.
I married, or that is re-married, at 40. That isn't like 60 but it's not like 27 either which is how old I was when I first married. That ended up like that Percy Sledge song.
https://youtu.be/oqXgEQpBP5Y?si=H9vCfAM7HZPAxi7I
That is, the penultimate verse. Funny how that video brought a tear to my eye all these 38 years on, even though in retrospect, thank you GOD that I did not spend my life with that woman! "The Real Deal" and I have been married 34 years. I have never been happier.
Some magical day I will make it to one of your Zoom meetings. On the 19th The Real Deal and I will be visiting friends and probably at the Sheep and Wool Festival during the time of the meeting. I'm old but it's not like I have nothing to do.
I thank God every day that I have fun things to do and I am still in good enough shape to do them.
We’re not married.
18 years is longer than a lot of marriages.
Oh, OK.