Jack.

If heaven were a country, that's where we would be this week.. You see, it will be a year this Friday that our brother (in-law) died instantly after rising from bed to turn his alarm clock off.  Our travels pause this week to dedicate our meals to the best guy on earth. Meals will be easy because Jack LOVED everything when it came to cuisine with the exception of red meat, salmon, lamb or any other fancy flavor. He was a basic guy when it came to eating and a fan to whatever you cooked. Always the guy you could count on to have a 2nd helping of food.

Our last meal with Jack was a year ago, when we had family over to celebrate Elie's Birthday. We had BBQ pulled pork, bake beans, cole slaw, corn bread, etc. and Jack stood raving about how great the meal was. His favorite. Simple. American. Delicious. That night I had no time to talk to Jack while I hosted 20 people. My memory was of our usual banter... "Hey Yack"... Jack replying, "hey Lita"... we smiled.

I met Jack when I was younger than Elie. Crazy. He was the light of my sister, Barb's life. What a handsome couple. He wore Chuck Taylor tennis shoes and drove a red pickup truck in high school. He grew up a few doors down from Andy. Andy's brother, Blaine was a childhood friend and Andy was therefore a part of the hood, though years younger. Memories so tender. A connection between Andy from his childhood and both of us from growing up with Jack, makes this departure that much harder.

We smoked a pork loin today in Jack's honor while celebrating Elie's birthday with Andy's family. He is smiling tonight, wishing he could stop down to enjoy a taste of Andy's cooking.

God love you my friend.