The News-Press 15
November 8, 2018
LAMB FROM PAGE 14
I have been so lucky in my own friendships. In my last few years of college at MSU Denver I met my boyfriend, Will, and eventually several of his friends. In 2013, Will and I joined in on our friends’ family dinner tradition. One of us would host and everyone would bring a dish. On Sunday nights we’d catch up on life over plates of homemade noodles, tikka masala, guacamole, whatever the theme was for that day. Food tastes better when it’s shared with friends. To me, cheesy as it sounds, cooking is the currency of love. Over the years, friends have moved away, new friends have joined and, although we don’t get together to cook every week any more, we still make sure to meet up every once in a while over a homemade meal. My love of cooking for people goes back to childhood family holidays. We’d pack up the car and head to my grandparents’ house in Westminster. Food would sit on the kitchen counters, buffet style, as my pile of cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles filed through with plates of turkey and mashed potatoes. The holidays were when my family would get together and laugh over our meal, enjoy each other’s company and, depending on the day, cheer on the Broncos or the Avalanche. As an adult, I now bring my own dish to the table at family meals. I love planning for my family’s various events — a raspberry pie for the whole family because it’s my grandpa’s favorite, potatoes at my
SMITH
dad’s because he doesn’t like vegetables, adventurous international foods with my mom, and so on. But like Julia, my favorite person to cook for is my partner in crime. For the past seven years, Will and I have spent time huddled in kitchens across the state, sampling soups and sauces. Will’s specialty is guacamole or hot wings, mine is Alfredo or carbonara with homemade noodles. We are our own worst critics, and Will nearly always finds something wrong with the dishes he makes. But despite Will’s pickiness about his cooking, there are few people with whom I would rather share a kitchen. Sharing a meal brings warmth to friendships. For me, it starts with a good cookbook: What should I make? What will people like best? Over the years I have collected cookbooks with cuisine from around the world, including “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia, with her coauthors and friends, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. My favorite pages are usually earmarked or stained with flour and oil. The recipes don’t have to be complicated. The presentation doesn’t need to be on par with the finest restaurants in the world. Julia spent the later years of her life making cooking accessible to everyone, assuring viewers of “The French Chef ” that it was OK to break a few eggs in the kitchen. It will all turn out fine in the end. Bon appetit. Kailyn Lamb is the editor of Colorado Community Media’s two monthly Denver newspapers. She can be reached at klamb@ coloradocommunitymedia.com
FROM PAGE 14
He went first, and an assistant delivered his panels to me. I added mine, in some degree of similarity, glued them side by side, and gave them a title. “Never Known” is on a back wall at the center, with a firstprize ribbon beneath it the size of an apron. The center’s events director, Allissa Dailey, arranged a wonderful reception for the exhibit. Jennifer and I arrived before Matt did, and we kept the news of the prize to ourselves until he had a chance to see the ribbon for himself. Matt’s not crazy about crowds, and there was a possibility he wouldn’t attend, but the front doors opened, and I watched a friend of his push his wheelchair inside. I introduced him to Jennifer, and then we led him back to our painting, which I had completed in my studio — and he had not seen. I watched his face. He looked happy and pleased and proud. I looked at Jennifer and we both might have teared up a little. During Parent Weekend in 1991 at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he was pursuing photography, Matt
was airlifted by helicopter from the crashed car his mother had been driving. He returned to Colorado (he graduated from Rangeview High School in 1989), paralyzed from the neck down. He spent six months at Swedish Medical Center and Craig Hospital. At first he tried to reconnect with photography, but maybe that was too easy. You can click a camera with almost anything. Why not try to mix oil paint with a palette stick in your mouth? Why not try to create distinctive portraits with a paintbrush in your mouth? And that’s what he has been doing. Perhaps the most wellknown artist with limited mobility, Chuck Close, also paints portraits. Close had a “catastrophic spinal artery collapse” that left him partially paralyzed, but he is able to work with his hands, and continues to paint largescale portraits that are placed in museums and private collections worldwide. This ride Matt and I are on is one more immeasurable gift that art has given to me. Craig Marshall Smith is an artist, educator and Highlands Ranch resident. He can be reached at craigmarshallsmith@comcast.net.
OBITUARIES CERVANTES
Joel Cervantes
Aug. 28, 1972 - Oct. 25, 2018
FREEBORN
Gayl L. Freeborn
6/18/1940 – 10/27/2018
Joel Cervantes, 46, of Edwards, Colorado passed away October 25, 2018. Joel was born August 28, 1972 in Winnemucca, Nevada. Joel is survived by his loving wife, Candace (Riden), two amazing children, Madilyn (8) and Jonah (6), his mother, Velia Cervantes of Lakewood, his brothers of Castle Rock, Juan (Mary) and Josh (Jenny), niece Lily and nephews Michael and Connor, parents in law, Mike and Donna McCleary of Estes Park, sister in law Brandi Frank (Zach) of Brighton. Joel was preceded in death by his father, Jose Cervantes. Joel enlisted in the Marines in 1991 and was very proud to serve his country. Joel was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Meritorious Mast, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (w/1 star), Good Conduct Medal (w/1 star), Navy Achievement Medal, Certificate of Commendation and Rifle Expert Badge (5th Award). Sgt. Joel Cervantes was honorably discharged
in 1998 and moved to the Vail Valley shortly thereafter. Vail quickly became home and he was a patient snowboard instructor for Vail Resorts, making many friends throughout the Vail Valley. In 1999, he began a 19-year career at US Bank (formally WestStar Bank) where he also met his wife, Candace. They created a beautiful life together in the Vail Valley, where Joel would consider his proudest accomplishment to be his beautiful children, Madilyn and Jonah. A service to celebrate Joel’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 3rd, at the Vilar Center in Beaver Creek. A reception will follow. Joel will be laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Burial services, with full military honors, will be at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, November 5th. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made at U.S. Bank, where an account has been established in the name “Cervantes Family Memorial”.
Gayl L. Freeborn, 78, of Parker, passed away on October 27, 2018 at her daughter Michelle’s home in Elizabeth, CO. Gayl is survived by her
daughters, Cynthia Smith and Michelle Cary, her 4 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. See ponderosavalleyfunerals.com
In Loving Memory
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