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07/08/2021 12:01 AMI haven’t really talked to you all about my drive to Pittsburgh for my brother’s memorial service.
He was my only sibling. Now I am only one. But all my nieces and nephew were there, and their children and in one case a grandniece who was there with her husband and their very young children. My own biological daughter (my brother’s only niece), who had fractured her foot fewer than six days earlier, flew from California accompanied by a heavy knee scooter. Had it been me, I’d probably not flown from California, my daughter wouldn’t miss seeing her only first cousins, many of whom she hadn’t seen in decades.
I couldn’t speak at his memorial service.
When my mother died, I’d written a piece about how much I would miss her, but I couldn’t give that speech. I knew I’d sob, so my husband read what I’d written. When my husband died, I couldn’t read his eulogy either. For him, I couldn’t even write about how much I loved him and would miss him. I thought about writing a few words about my brother, but his daughter and son wrote much more beautifully than I could, so they did it instead.
At the service, I met many parts of my brother’s life: his golf friends, his sailing buddies, his duplicate bridge companions, his work colleagues. I also got to spend time with his girlfriend, whom he called his soulmate. They knew each other from his duplicate bridge “meets.”
But my brother’s soulmate, Lois Porter, has lost my brother, too. She will become my friend and we will meet, periodically, and talk about my brother. And she cooks, too. Here is her delicious macaroni salad, which she served to my daughter and me on her driveway, since my daughter could not handle the steps up to her home.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Macaroni Salad
From Lois Porter of Zelienople, Pennsylvania
Yield: 8 to 10 as a side dish
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
½ cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon yellow mustard
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup green pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/8 cup grated carrot (optional)
1 tablespoon pimento (optimal)
Add all ingredients together. Put mixture into an attractive platter, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least 4 hours before serving. Best served a day later.