DEBORAH REID WRITER & CHEF
  • Home
  • Clips & Podcasts
    • Sample Writing
  • Recipes
    • Video Recipes
  • today
  • Blog
    • Theo
  • About
Picture

today

13/2/2022

 
Picture

Soufflé means I love you. 

If I cook something French, it's serious.

You're in my heart. Forever. 

​For the record, I like the man sitting beside Alyssa too. 

Partnering with a woman like her—you're golden, Ryan. 

***

I've never met her parents. It's in the works.

First thing I want to do is hug them. Tell them they raised a beautiful human. Gold star.

I've had the benefit of the love they imparted. 

***

At Christmas last year, she turned up at my door with Guyanese Pepper Pot.

First bite: Time stops. The world drops away. Marvel rises in me. My blue eyes well up.

​Gelatinous oxtail. Black velvet sauce. The flavour of cassareep.

Tastes new, and ancient.

Left an imprint on me. A linocut.

Alyssa cooks like an angel. 

Spending time with her in the kitchen is a dream. 

I want her to cook my last meal. No input.

***

She offered me a cabin on Wasan Island last summer. To write. 

In paradise.

The meals and laughter. Stars in the night sky from the hot tub. Saunas.

At my desk in a wet bathing suit.

The hush.

Sleeping in a cedar-lined room. Soft night rain. 

Bonfire in the tower.

Impromptu dinners in my kitchen with Gerry and Scott. The conversations.

Talking cookbooks with Blake. His quiet, gentle spirit. His cooking too.

Skinny dipping with Eleanor and Sarah. Like when I was a teenager.
​
***

My whole life, I'd been afraid of deep water.
​
Learned to swim when I got sober. Friday night lessons instead of drinking.

Doing lengths to exhaust the craving.

The fear is gone. I don't know how, but it left. 

I waded into the shimmering lake—sparkles flittering on the surface—and felt calm and safe. 

Swam around the island. More than once.


***
​
Alyssa is a community builder. For herself first. 

She wears the world like a loose robe.

Her spirit is generous. She's got grace. In spades.

An old soul. Wise beyond her years. 

A diamond.

***

Some students came to teach me. 

​***
​
I didn't know which song to choose. I kept going back and forth. 

Then I knew why I couldn't make up my mind. Because there were two songs for Alyssa.

​Released a year apart.

​Beautiful and different.

2018

2019

Lis
13/2/2022 07:38:01 am

I love this. The tangled web of food and love, community and generosity, memories and friendship. I love the way it's woven together so seamlessly. A tapestry of words and imagery. Vivid.


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021

    © Deborah Reid, 2021 - 2025. All Rights Reserved.

    Categories

    All
    Today
    Today Books
    Today Cookbooks

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe
© DEBORAH REID, 2012 - 2025

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Clips & Podcasts
    • Sample Writing
  • Recipes
    • Video Recipes
  • today
  • Blog
    • Theo
  • About