Missing My Dear Friend Lynn - Her Roasted Shrimp Orzo Salad
This was my last evening with Lynn.
I lost a dear friend last week. On the night she died there was a powerful thunder and lightening storm in our area that awakened me and my thoughts went right to her. Her husband shared that she passed right after the storm, as if fighting to leave this earth, leaving her two beautiful daughters and dear husband, far too early, after just having turned 42 years old, less than a week prior.
Lynn loved life and life loved Lynn. Her laughter was so contagious that you couldn't help but chime in. Laughing with Lynn was like "inner jogging" giving everything inside a good workout, leaving the soul worked out and smiling. She embraced life with such enthusiasm and she even laughed through challenges and setbacks, just rolling with the flow, not letting anything stop her from living life to the fullest. She was a shining example of maximizing each day. I often questioned if she ever slept as she did more in one 24-hour period than most of us complete in a week!
She was the "Martha Stewart" of moms (truly unsurpassed). She was always organized, packed with healthy snacks and beverages, prepared for any situation or emergency, on-time despite a crazy-busy schedule and juggling two busy girls' lives, with dinner prepared and waiting at home while being put together impeccably (even with reading materials and games for the waiting sibling, always at the ready for the countless hours spent waiting for her girls to complete their activities).
We met when our girls were in pre-school, nine years ago, ironically to this day (when uploading photos, the first day of pre-school was stamped with Sept. 12).
Over the years, we've spent hours and hours sitting on the sidelines of soccer practices and games laughing, trying to understand "off-sides" and the changing rules of soccer as the girls get older, and gabbing about anything and everything. Lynn was the cheerleader, always ready with a positive encouragement for each of the players, even clapping when opponents' goalies blocked our girls' shots, with classy sportsmanship.
Our time together was also spent sititng poolside watching our kids' swim team practices and meets. Lynn volunteered to coordinate teams (a huge gift of her time), to dole out uniforms, and recruit volunteers. When the team asked for volunteers for the "Annual Parent/Coach Swim Event" at the District Swim Meet, she was quick to volunteer for the dreaded task, while the rest of us hid for fear of getting asked. No task was too great for Lynn and she never shirked her role as a volunteer and active participant in her girls' activities. She never complained and always had a smile for all, radiating joy.
Lynn loved her two girls more than anything. She never missed a game, a meet, a tournament - an event and it pained her greatly when the girls had events that both coincided with each other causing her to miss one daughter's event. It was rare not to see Lynn upon arriving at a soccer field, because she was always early and always present. This weekend when I drove into the soccer parking lot that we'd shared many games and laughs together - I was struck with sadness yet again, at the loss of this joyful being, someone I was lucky enough to call my friend. The hole that she leaves in so many lives is enormous and her (adorable chicken-covered rubber) boots will be a challenge to fill.
Our families gathered to break bread on numerous occasions whether after a soccer game, a spur of the moment meal or a planned event with friends. Thankfully we were able to gather our families together this summer, despite everyone's busy schedules. I believe that evening happened for a reason. We'd joke that the stars aligned to give us a free night. I remember feeling that I didn't want the night to end as we all talked and laughed into the late hours. The Hubs, who doesn't take a ton of photos had snapped the photo of us (above) during dinner and I had forgotten it until he sent it to me last week.
I can't tell you how grateful I am for that time spent together and for her friendship. Her passing creates such a deep sense of loss in the lives of her family and friends because she was such a tremendous, wonderful, caring soul. Lynn's journey forces us to face our own mortality and as Anna Quindlen stated, "Unless you know the clock is ticking, it is so easy to waste our lives, our days." My friend Lynn did not waste her days nor her life. She packed life into each day and truly lived deeply every day.
Stop and tell someone today how much they mean to you and that you appreciate them. As her husband urged us on the day she passed - do something unexpected and spend time with someone you love today, rather than tomorrow.
'Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to live, make haste to be kind.' -Henri Frederick Amiel
Lynn and I shared a love of the Barefoot Contessa and good food and would often swap Barefoot success recipes. Lynn made this wonderful Roasted Shrimp Orzo Salad (a Barefoot Contessa recipe) for a luncheon at her home last fall along with the most amazing flourless chocolate torte with fresh raspberries. I had to make and share the recipe in honor of my dear friend, who may be gone, but never forgotten.
Here is the link to the original recipe:
Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Shrimp Orzo Salad
Ingredients:
3/4 pound orzo pasta
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice ( about 3 lemons and I used the zest of one lemon as well)
Good olive oil, or Grapeseed Oil (which I used)
2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
It's especially good with added Kalamata olives too.
Instructions: follow link above
Note: The fresh dill and the fresh parsley make this salad amazing so you must not leave those two ingredients, although sometimes hard to come by, out. However, I do cut down the amount of oil.
If you plan to make it a day in advance, as the recipe welcomes you doing, you may want to hold off adding the cucumbers until the day it is served as they can break down a bit with the added salt and sodium in the Feta.
Next time I want to try it with quinoa and add red bell peppers too.
