Remembering Anna N

[Kerry Beal]

Anna's daughter Lynn Marie wanted to add a little something here - so I am attaching.

 

Like all of you that have posted your feelings and reasons why our mom and Nana, Anna N left a hole in your heart we Anna’s family all feel that too. We will miss her wit, her knowledge, determination, wisdom and her guts. As her daughter writing this, I will personally miss the ability to just talk to her, to ask Mom for help finding an answer to cooking or kitchen questions. Mom’s knowledge went way beyond the kitchen but I will try to stick to eGullet’s reason for being. If Mom didn’t know the answer, she asked all of you. Mom would either send me the link or the answer. I have missed Mom’s amazing cooking for a few years now and will forever miss the breads she made, the new dishes she tried and our family favorites that bored her to keep making but mostly relented to a grateful and hungry family. One dish Mom refused to continue making was stuffed mushrooms. Mushrooms, garlic, cream cheese, onion and hot Italian sausage. So very basic but still a favorite for my family and friends. Now I make them and yeah, it’s boring but what the heck. Fortunately, as long as mom was still able to cook, she never stopped making Chicken Tikka and Butter Chicken. 

Just like Kerry, I will personally miss my mom’s writing and editing skills. I apologize for any editing needed here as Mom is now resting peacefully. All of us have to learn to live with our memories and mom’s writings. Mostly I will miss mom’s wisdom. Wisdom in my opinion is so much more powerful than smarts and intelligence which mom had plenty of as well. To me wisdom is taking whatever level of intelligence you have and combining it with common sense and life experiences and then using your wisdom to help others. Mom had that and then some.  

Thank you to everyone that has or will post their thoughts and sympathies, my family and I are grateful to each and everyone of you that filled my mom’s life with laughter, conversation, friendship, challenges and knowledge along with many other uplifting descriptive words I have read. 

As you remember Anna N while making cocktails or breads or the dishes that will trigger an Anna smile, please remember her when you try something new, mom would love that. Our mom truly loved learning!

I second Kerry’s statement. QUIT smoking. I am currently watching my father-in-law experience the devastating, suffocating effects of COPD. I am not looking forward to the day when like my mom, he starts to panic because he can’t catch his breath, and as a survivor of lung cancer he has less lungs than my mom had. 

Rest peacefully Mom. 

[liuzhou]

Thanks, Kerry and multiple thanks to Lynn Marie.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Wisdom seems to have been an inheritable trait in that family.     Thank you, Lynn Marie and Kerry, indeed.

[Alleguede]

Arrrfff, it’s already been a month. I bizarrely still reach out to my phone to say hi, check in or wanna vent.

 
Anna was my sibling - yup- many know the story but I showed up much later in the adoption but how lucky was I. Surrounded by these 2 fantastic ladies at the reach of a text.

I was immediately taken in as the young one and man am I/was I loved. 🥰 

I’ve been selfishly heartbroken. Not because Anna has left us. She is in a better place now - and I know she is and this strong - amazing - courageous person will leave such a void in our daily lives as Kerry’s closest friend and mine.

To be fair i’m not sure - the more I think of it, which of the two was truly the instigator in all of the adventures and troubles ☺️. The adventures of Anna and Kerry - they have lived together would make many envious. I am truly grateful to have been a part of it from the day we met and have gotten closer by the end. There will be many pages of text to account of that.

I loved the stories I often would hear about. A new toy, a new food, a new adventure or more troublemaking 🫣. I would often get 2 versions and have to make sure which was which. Regardless I loved both of them.

 

Anna will always remain a part of our/my adventures. Mine, Gouter, and our family (Right? Kerry!)

Anna, ❤️ you forever and keep an eye on us.

 

Rodney

 

It may be a bit messy - as you know the official grammar corrector is not accessible at this point. 

 

[MaryIsobel]

33 minutes ago, Alleguede said:

Arrrfff, it’s already been a month. I bizarrely still reach out to my phone to say hi, check in or wanna vent.

 
Anna was my sibling - yup- many know the story but I showed up much later in the adoption but how lucky was I. Surrounded by these 2 fantastic ladies at the reach of a text.

I was immediately taken in as the young one and man am I/was I loved. 🥰 

I’ve been selfishly heartbroken. Not because Anna has left us. She is in a better place now - and I know she is and this strong - amazing - courageous person will leave such a void in our daily lives as Kerry’s closest friend and mine.

To be fair i’m not sure - the more I think of it, which of the two was truly the instigator in all of the adventures and troubles ☺️. The adventures of Anna and Kerry - they have lived together would make many envious. I am truly grateful to have been a part of it from the day we met and have gotten closer by the end. There will be many pages of text to account of that.

I loved the stories I often would hear about. A new toy, a new food, a new adventure or more troublemaking 🫣. I would often get 2 versions and have to make sure which was which. Regardless I loved both of them.

 

Anna will always remain a part of our/my adventures. Mine, Gouter, and our family (Right? Kerry!)

Anna, ❤️ you forever and keep an eye on us.

 

Rodney

 

It may be a bit messy - as you know the official grammar corrector is not accessible at this point. 

 

You have expressed your heartbreak eloquently. Anna has shown us all that you don't need to be a person of celebrity to be missed by a mulitude of people.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't really know what to add here that hasn't been said. I'm really bad at knowing what to say or how to word what I want to say but I'll start by saying, I really need to get back to checking in here more often because life is short and there are people here who mean more to me than maybe someone you've never actually met should from an outside view.

 

But I think, rather than going the sadness direction with this, I'm just gonna add one of my best memories of Anna. When my wife passed away 7 years ago, Anna and Kerry were huge help in keeping me from sinking completely into self pity. They would check on me and offer encouragement which helped more than they'll ever know. But something that stood out from Anna was, any time I started crossing that line between mourning and "poor me," she wasn't having it. She would give me a no-nonsense verbal boot in the butt without hesitation. There was nothing mean spirited or unsympathetic about it, it was something you might get from your mom or grandmother or favorite aunt or something. Just a solid "you're heading in a bad direction and I'm not gonna let you." There are a whole lot of good reasons to remember Anna but I'll always cherish those kicks in the seat that brightened some of my darkest days. Rest well Anna.

[gfweb]

24 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

I don't really know what to add here that hasn't been said. I'm really bad at knowing what to say or how to word what I want to say but I'll start by saying, I really need to get back to checking in here more often because life is short and there are people here who mean more to me than maybe someone you've never actually met should from an outside view.

 

But I think, rather than going the sadness direction with this, I'm just gonna add one of my best memories of Anna. When my wife passed away 7 years ago, Anna and Kerry were huge help in keeping me from sinking completely into self pity. They would check on me and offer encouragement which helped more than they'll ever know. But something that stood out from Anna was, any time I started crossing that line between mourning and "poor me," she wasn't having it. She would give me a no-nonsense verbal boot in the butt without hesitation. There was nothing mean spirited or unsympathetic about it, it was something you might get from your mom or grandmother or favorite aunt or something. Just a solid "you're heading in a bad direction and I'm not gonna let you." There are a whole lot of good reasons to remember Anna but I'll always cherish those kicks in the seat that brightened some of my darkest days. Rest well Anna.

Well-said 

 

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

I don't really know what to add here that hasn't been said. I'm really bad at knowing what to say or how to word what I want to say but I'll start by saying, I really need to get back to checking in here more often because life is short and there are people here who mean more to me than maybe someone you've never actually met should from an outside view.

 

But I think, rather than going the sadness direction with this, I'm just gonna add one of my best memories of Anna. When my wife passed away 7 years ago, Anna and Kerry were huge help in keeping me from sinking completely into self pity. They would check on me and offer encouragement which helped more than they'll ever know. But something that stood out from Anna was, any time I started crossing that line between mourning and "poor me," she wasn't having it. She would give me a no-nonsense verbal boot in the butt without hesitation. There was nothing mean spirited or unsympathetic about it, it was something you might get from your mom or grandmother or favorite aunt or something. Just a solid "you're heading in a bad direction and I'm not gonna let you." There are a whole lot of good reasons to remember Anna but I'll always cherish those kicks in the seat that brightened some of my darkest days. Rest well Anna.

My god - that is so Anna. 

 

It always fascinated me how she could clearly be starting to get down when everything was going to shit - and then after a couple of days she would just pull herself up by her bootstraps and be back - optimistic, interested in what she was reading or was listening to on a podcast and just getting on with it.

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Anna via Tri2Cook: "you're heading in a bad direction and I'm not gonna let you."

 

An invaluable mantra for each of us and those who look to us for wisdom.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Dang,  i really enjoyed her input. condolences..

[Kim Shook]

I've been MIA for a number of reasons lately, but I jumped on a few days ago and saw this terrible news.  I was so saddened and shocked that I just backed off and haven't come back until today.  I guess I've been processing. it.  I knew that she hadn't been in the best of health and that she hadn't been participating in discussions for a while.  But, somehow it was still a shock.  Anna was such a strong personality that I somehow always expected her to be there.  I remember how welcoming she was when I joined eG.  Back when I joined this place seemed to me to be a bit of a boy's club.  I quickly realized with people like Anna and so many other ladies, that it was much more egalitarian than I first thought.  I will always remember and be grateful for her advice and kindnesses.  Thank you to my fellow eGulleteers who have been so much more eloquent than me.  

[shain]

It is so sad to hear. Anna was truly an amazing person, clever, funny, talented. It was a pleasure knowing her, joking about our opposite food opinions, and admiring the delicious food she made. I will forever remember her fondly.

[SLB]

I am just seeing this terrible news.  <gulp>.  Seconding everything said here; her humor was such a pleasure.

[Dejah]

I have been so neglectful in checking forums other than Dinner, Lunch, so I mussed seeing these posts about Anna's passing.😞
So very sad to learn this news. She was one of a kind, and she will be missed by all who knew her, in person and on eGullet.
R.I.P Anna.

[CantCookStillTry]

You were an active living legend when I joined, and I felt I "made it" in this weird internet world when you liked a post of mine. I read your island holiday blogs like books before I signed up. Sweet Dreams Anna N x

[scubadoo97]

Very sorry to near that Anna N has passed.  She will be missed 

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, CantCookStillTry said:

You were an active living legend when I joined, and I felt I "made it" in this weird internet world when you liked a post of mine. I read your island holiday blogs like books before I signed up. Sweet Dreams Anna N x

Funny - when we were struggling with titles and content for our blogs and new topics - we talked about what our 'fans' would appreciate. "the Ladies who lunch can't eat there again - our fans need variety (and so do we)" 

[Martin Fisher]

Anna was so very nice to me.

She will be sorely missed.

[Dr. Teeth]

Among the many things I missed when away this is the saddest.    I will miss Anna very much.   I’m probably not alone in feeling that the blogs on her trips to Mantoulin island were my summer vacation as well.

[Lindacakes]

I'm not as regular as I've been, so it is a shock to find this out.  My condolences to Anna's family and to Kerry, and to all of us who are part of this family of eGullet.

 

Anna was always my favorite of the Big eGulleters.  I loved her point of view, her expansive knowledge and experience, and her kindness when I would reach out to her with a question.  If I was poking around looking for something to read, if I saw her name, I read it.  If I saw her name, I took it as gospel*.  If I saw her name, I felt happy.

 

This experience of being part of the eGullet family is diminished, and yet not, because everything we contribute becomes part of the great body of knowledge that we share.  For as long as there is an eGullet, what we have contributed is permanent.  Anna lives on, then, not just in hearts, but in minds, and especially, for those who will come here to learn.  They have yet to meet Anna, and yet to love her.

 

* Except not beans.  I love beans.

Edited January 9 by Lindacakes
Bad English. (log)

[ElsieD]

35 minutes ago, Lindacakes said:

I'm not as regular as I've been, so it is a shock to find this out.  My condolences to Anna's family and to Kerry, and to all of us who are part of this family of eGullet.

 

Anna was always my favorite of the Big eGulleters.  I loved her point of view, her expansive knowledge and experience, and her kindness when I would reach out to her with a question.  If I was poking around looking for something to read, if I saw her name, I read it.  If I saw her name, I took it as gospel*.  If I saw her name, I felt happy.

 

This experience of being part of the eGullet family is diminished, and yet not, because everything we contribute becomes part of the great body of knowledge that we share.  For as long as there is an eGullet, what we have contributed is permanent.  Anna lives on, then, not just in hearts, but in minds, and especially, for those who will come here to learn.  They have yet to meet Anna, and yet to love her.

 

* Except not beans.  I love beans.

Beautifully put.

[DianaB]

As a very occasional visitor to eG I have only today come across the sad news of Anna N’s passing.  I can’t imagine these discussions without her input although as I write this I realise that she would very much have wanted the community to continue.  
 

Anna N was always supportive of my overly ambitious cooking experiments; information that she shared helped me to become a better cook.  Her writings, alone or in tandem with @Kerry Beal brought knowledge, amusement and humanity at a time when minor disagreements can all too easily take a wrong turn.

 

Our paths can never cross now but I shall never forget my eG friend, Anna N. 

[kayb]

This is my first visit in several months to the “regular” content — I’ve confined myself to that portion of the forum which shall not be mentioned. It feels like the foundations have been shaken.

 

Anna was a marvel.