Thursday, June 24, 2021

That night

I almost don't know how to write here, so much has been happening. Nothing earth shaking in the world, but my own little self has been personally rocked by a rather assertively social couple of weeks. It included a wonderful gathering of souls this past Monday night, when the man and I dined with the Armenian writer whose book I have been editing. She and I first became aware of each other at a book launch a year ago in March, an event we each almost didn't attend. A week later, covid-19 shut down the world. 

While I sheltered in place in the city, she rode out the first five months of quarantine in Jamaica, having been marooned there when borders closed in the middle of her family's spring break vacation. It was a gift, because she finished writing her book there. Her adopted son, 17, is Jamaican-born, and so is her husband, whom she met after she was already a mother. In addition to the gentle spirit who is their son, they are now also parents to a brilliant spark of a nine-year-old daughter, who likes to point out that she is the only member of their family who isn't an immigrant. The mother is an extraordinarily gifted writer, and the way we found each other felt somehow ordained, our connection infused with a shared sense that we had known each other through many lifetimes before this one. 

Long story short, after reading some of her work last year, I sent her first chapter to an agent friend who loved what she saw and wanted to represent the book. But the manuscript wasn't ready. It was too long by almost half, the final narrative still needing to be excavated from what was already an exquisite piece of writing. The book's author has now completed that arduous revise, cutting boldly and without remorse. The result is a work that is very special indeed. When it went back to her agent, she pronounced it magical, and the agent's daughter, who also read the manuscript through several rounds, declared, "I love this book so much I can't even stand it!"

And so we were celebrating. The agent and her wife of 32 years, and my husband and me, all traveled to Queens to dine with the author and her beautiful family. The author is the size of a child, with the aura of a much larger person, and we hugged each other for a long time in greeting. "Are you both really just meeting each other?" our agent friend said, because we've been in constant communication now for more than a year, and it was a little shocking, even to us, to realize we hadn't yet met in the flesh. 

Everybody got on with everybody from the get. And my God, the meal. The counter was laden with authentic Armenian and Jamaican dishes, from ackee and saltfish (Jamaica's national dish) to dolma (an Armenian staple of grape leaves stuffed with chick peas or meat), plus two deserts, Armenian bird's milk pastries and a walnut tangerine cake that the author's mother used to make. Their family has dubbed their exhilarating mix of cooking styles as Jahrmenian cuisine. Honestly, the man and I have been dreaming about that fantastic spread ever since. They sent us all home with containers of food, and I wished I had been less shy and taken more, because I was still tasting the deliciousness of every dish the next morning.

Yet as out of this world as the food was, the company was even more divine. We huddled shoulder to shoulder around the coffee table and talked and shared in an easy stream of consciousness, every one of of us falling in love with everyone else. The next day, I missed each person there in a sweet aching way, and was thrilled when our hosts texted us to say that we really must do this again. I was so inside the experience that I didn't take a single photo all evening. How did that happen? I wondered, and my Armenian compatriot wondered the very same thing. "How is possible that this night goes unrecorded?" she said after. For me there was something delicate and precious about the evening, like a moment out of time, and I think I just didn't want to disturb its unfolding. 

The photos here are from our hosts' Jahrmenian Feast catering website. Their deviled eggs are the most delicious I ever tasted, with crushed walnuts mixed in with the yokes, and pomegranate seeds the perfect garnish. These pictures don't begin to do justice to the spread our hosts put before us. I can't fully do justice in the telling of that evening, either. In a room full of people of so many different origins, it felt like a wondrous communion of kindred spirits. Oh, it was a night. 


 


22 comments:

  1. No photos necessary at all. Your words so beautifully expressed the tastes and splendors of the evening. So wonderful... I loved reading every word, as delicious as it gets.

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  2. Well if that wasn't magic, I don't know what would be. And on a personal note- I think I would have taken all of the dolma and hidden somewhere to eat it like a feral Armenian child, deprived of my favorite food for too long. What a beautiful night that must have been!

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    1. Mary, it was magic for sure. Oh, you would have loved that dolma, made the way our host's Armenian grandmother used to make them!

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  3. Oh what a wonderful evening and every dish sounds marvelous. I am sure that your memories will remember every detail in perfect order, much better than a photograph but I get it. It would have been great to have the photos.
    I do hope that you will be able to get together again sooner rather than later. I just love it when I meet someone and it feels that our connection to one another has been thru several previous lives. It just feels so right. I am very happy that you were able to get together and have such a great evening. Hugs xxxx

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    1. Beth, thank you Beth. It was indeed wonderful.

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  4. such a happy, comforting evening- we did not think possible such a short time ago. Here I am with my bowl of cheerios wondering how my mouth would react to such good food. My imagination only goes so far.

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    1. Linda Sue, it was in fact our first such gathering in someone's home since the pandemic! Our world is reopening, with all its gifts.

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  5. It sounds enchanted. What a fantastic time you all had. The deviled eggs look like little jewel boxes.

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    1. Allison, yes! those ruby red pomegranate seeds look like rare jewels. I love that. Enchanted is a good word for the evening we had.

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  6. When I saw the Jahrmenian Feast catering website photos of the bowls of delicious-looking food on the long table, I remembered a recent conversation in a group of friends where it was brought up that the word "companions" comes from the Latin meaning those who eat bread with each other, eat meals together. What a lovely evening and a feeling of companionship and camaraderie that you described in this post. Hard to believe that it's been over a year since that book launch. It has been a rich experience this year to read two more of the books you collaborated on. Now I'm looking forward to reading this new book that you helped edit. Sweet to learn, too, that it was on June 24 that Munch became a member of your extended family a year ago.

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    1. am, you have no idea how much I appreciate your actually reading the books I've worked on. My own family seldom reads what I write, and that's ok, and yet when someone does read the work, I'm so moved, relieved if they like it, but even if they don't I'm still grateful. Hugs, friend.

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  7. An evening which will live on in heart and memory!

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    1. Maudie, lovely to see you here! Heart and memory, yes.

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  8. oh wonderful magical evenings. what a way to break the covid quarantine fast.

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    1. ellen, i didn't really think about it as breaking the quarantine fast, but that is exactly what it was! no doubt that also sprinkled its dose of magic.

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  9. Sounds like a wonderful gathering! I look forward to reading her book.

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    1. Ellen, I look forward to the world reading her book. It is wonderful.

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  10. It sounds like a wonderful evening. We had people over for a BBQ for the first time in close to two years and it was wonderful. I didn't realize how much I missed people.

    You two sound like kindred spirits and isn't it lovely when you meet people like that:)

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    1. Pixie, I think every one present was kindred in some way, it felt like a reunion of spirits to me. I can't describe it.

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  11. How beautiful is this? Though I'll never get over this evening having gone undocumented, I think this blog post is as precious as any photos we might have taken. I do think that we were so present that our minds just didn't go there, and isn't that so rare and lovely?

    You are too kind to me, my sweet, beautiful friend. You mean more to me than words can express, and I will spend many years yet expressing my gratitude for your generosity of spirit, your faith in me, and your tireless work on my manuscript.

    Big Jahrmenian love to you and your beautiful man.

    Maryam

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    1. Maryam! I think the evening will live on in our memories, perfect in the remembering in a way photos might never have captured. Sending big love back to you and your beautiful Jahrmenian family! I also can't wait to hold your book! xo

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