let's talk about friendship...

i don't think anyone would ever think to define a good friend as someone who would travel two thirds of the way across the country with a ceramic 10x18 inch pan as carry-on. but i think you all might change your mind when you hear this story.

i lived at 1050 oak st in san francisco with hardy and emily for about 3 years. we established this tradition of family dinner. family dinner was always the same. homemade mac and cheese made with real vermont cheddar. i can't really describe how important family dinner was for us. it just tastes so good. it was our little tradition. hardy was always in charge of making the cheese mixture. i was always in charge of grating the cheese. somehow emily got out of most of the preparation. and we always had awesome leftovers to bring to work the next day. ti was just so good that i can't put it into words. (maybe hardy, emily, gretchen, or the miller can.)

so. fast forward 6 years.

hardy buys a ticket to come to denver from nyc to visit her friend who has cancer. she offers to make me family dinner. i cry reading her email. emily cries when hardy tells her i cried.

then hardy comes to denver. and she brings a block of vermont cheddar - because she couldn't be sure that denver would have vermont cheddar and it has to be from vermont. and she brings her own box of medium pasta shells. AND she brings her own ceramic pan...that i swear weighed 20 pounds...picture her on the subway, on the train, on the shuttle to newark, on the plane. for family dinner. for me. it's killer.

oh. and. she brought a dozen brooklyn bagels.