Well, we come to the end of a week that is just so filled with emotions that it’s difficult to put them into words: vast sadness, deep gratitude and so much in between. I know that it’s Friday and you’d undoubtedly like to start off your weekend on a happy note. I hope that this week’s remembrances of Debbie have also given you reasons to smile. 
 
I mentioned her affinity for ducks earlier this week, and Debbie truly had a wonderful relationship with animals of all kinds. Three years ago she, along with Anita MacArthur (Ian’s wife) and I spent a memorable weekend at a farm together northwest of Toronto.
 
It was September and my first birthday since Lauren left our world. I had decided to treat the three of us to a girls’ getaway. We ate too much marvelous food, stayed up until all hours and talked, laughed and cried by a fire and Debbie and Anita even rode the Deerfield Estates’ unique Gypsy Vanner horses. Here’s a picture from when Debbie’s horse decided it was going to have a drink and maybe a swim in the pond. If she could have, she’d have ridden that beauty right in, reminscent as it was of her beach rides on warm vacations.
 
Debbie was in her element!
 

 
As you can imagine, there are many, many memories of this dear friend to keep us warm in the days to come, even as Rob and I pack up to fly to Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and beyond. The first leg begins on Monday.
 
But another of the warm thoughts of Debbie comes thanks to her talents in the kitchen. Every summer and fall she’d be up to her elbows in home-grown tomatoes, making salsa, chili sauce and stewed tomatoes. Her dill pickles were epic and she had a flair for making elaborate family dinners look effortless. Between her dishes and Mike’s barbecue prowess, a guest never ever went home hungry.
 
Journal visitor Linda Strome sent me a note this week saying that she would think of Debbie every time she made the lasagne soup that Mike famously shared with listeners. So I thought with the last weekend of October upon us, why not give you a great reason to think warm and loving, nurturing and nourishing thoughts, too? Here it is. I always top mine with some freshly grated parmesan, but you enjoy it however you want. Maybe with warm bread? Just Mmmmm….