We have lost another friend here at Deer Run. Our friend, Kevin, has passed.
Kevin died while we were away trekking the frozen tundra a few weeks ago. His passing was unexpected, sudden, and a total shock. I waited until Christmas passed for a few reasons. In all honesty I've been too tore up to even begin to cope with this loss. Doesn't it just seem like I just wrote about losing a friend? It was, and now its happened again.
Those of you who have visited us probably met Kevin, and most likely it was at the Good Food Conspiracy. Kevin was the man who often made the soup there. Very thin, usually sporting a very long ponytail sticking out from a cap. I say usually sporting a ponytail because he was known to shave it all off occasionally, and had done so just very recently as well. Kept to himself a lot in the store, but wow was he loved and part of that family.
I remember the first time I met Kevin, it was of course at Good Food, years ago. I was making a cookie delivery for the store, but the store wasn't yet open for the day. I saw a big white truck in the parking lot, peeked inside the front door and saw a mad scientist behind the counter stirring soup. I knocked. He looked up from his soup fixings and then looked away. I was ignored. I knocked again. He looked up, annoyed, came to the door, but wouldn't open up. "I have cookies!" I exclaimed. "I don't know anything about that!" he said back through thick glass. "Marney ordered them, I'm just dropping them off, please will you take them for me?" He opened the door, let me in, and said "just leave them over there" he pointed. I thanked him, and scurried out the door, listening to the lock click behind me. I wondered about the man I had just encountered. What was his story?
Kevin's story turned out to be very complex indeed, and Kevin himself was very complex. I didn't know it that morning, but Kevin would grow to become one of my most favorite people. You see, Kevin was an artist in the purest sense of the word. He created. He saw things in his head, and had music in his soul. Sometimes we were lucky enough he'd get around to re-creating that vision for the world. Whether it was food, gardening, music or tangible art. Didn't matter. He created. I admired.
Kevin was a very private person, and for this reason I will not share too many details of his life here. The thing is, he was so loved, to just let his passing go without discussion would be an injustice in my opinion.
Kevin was absorbed into the family of the Good Food Conspiracy. Like any other family, there's always squabbles, inside jokes, secrets, mysteries, and big love at the core. Oh was Kevin loved and adored by so many, especially his Good Food family. I loved walking into the store and seeing Kevin behind the counter. Often that meant he made the soup that day. Kevin was the creator of my most favorite soup ever, thai coconut. Now, anyone can make thai coconut, but Kevin's was extra special, and everyone (including Kevin) knew it was my favorite.
I think the first time I finally realized how special Kevin became to me was when I returned to the Keys after being gone from here for several months, caring for a dying relative. When I came back, I was physically & emotionally spent. Either the first or second day of my return, a call came to the inn, I think it was from Bonnie at the store. I was told Kevin had made thai coconut soup that day, and it was for me. He had put a container of it in the fridge at the store with my name on it, and I was to be called and told it was there. I hadn't seen Kevin in months, didn't know he even knew what was going on in my life at that time. But, he did. And, he wanted to be part of the healing process for me, and for him that was with food. My favorite soup. I did go and get my soup. He was not there, and even if he would've been there when I picked it up, he was so shy and modest, all he would've done in response to my gratitude was hang his head down and say nothing. Kevin did not wear his emotions on his sleeve, but still waters run deep.
Kevin was amazing. He and I shared some great conversation, some great food, some great parties, and some great times through the years. Remember that picture I posted months ago of Bonnie dancing at Reggae-fest? Kevin was sitting at the fest next to me when I took that picture. He shared my smuggled contraband that day (don't get all in a tizzy folks, I smuggled in vegan apple walnut muffins because vegan food offerings were limited at the event) and I remember crystal clear us sitting in extra low beach chairs, scarfing down apple muffins, rum drinks in hand listening to reggae, both remarking at the same moment how "incredible this moment in time is." Yup, we sure can get philosophical with enough rum (and apple muffins).
Kevin was a fellow Virgo, but whether he wanted his birthday noted varied from year to year. I loved baking for Kevin, a fellow chocoholic. I always put great love and care into my baking, but for Kevin I always pulled out all the stops. This year, he was all about the birthday. Yay! There was even a pot luck party for him. I made his birthday cake; vegan chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache filling and my best notbuttercream chocolate frosting. I swear that cake probably weighed 8 pounds or more, most of it ganache, I made a triple batch of it for that cake. I remember him sawing through that cake, licking chocolate off everything. Laughing. It makes me cry when I think about it. I made him a sign for his garden that said "compassion." It had pink hearts on it.
For my birthday, Kevin made me a piece of art. It's a coconut fish, with black coral for fins, and all sorts of spirals, seeds and more on it. Big gaping mouth, with sharp teeth fashioned from things found in nature. He painted this big wild hanging coconut fish silver & gold for me. Its one of the best gifts ever, and its hanging on my veranda. I love that fish. Now that Kevin is gone, I feel like it should be preserved in a box or something. I never want anything to happen to my big coconut fish because it reminds me of Kevin. After storms, I used to go up and down the beach collecting the best pieces of black coral that had washed in, for Kevin. Now, what will I do when I see all that black coral after next summer's storm season arrives? Its weird. Dumb stuff like that, drives me nuts.
The last time I saw Kevin was at Cindy's birthday party at the No Name Pub before leaving for the cold zone. I blogged about that party. Kevin came late, and all throughout the evening we all wondered where was Kevin, and hoped he would arrive. He came just before the last slices of pizza were eaten.... just in time for cake. He walked in the door, and all of us cheered "Kevin, Kevin!" "yay, Kevin's here!!" and he smiled ear to ear. The love he felt was immense. One person poured him a beer, another sliced cake for him and shoved it into his hands. He laughed, saying something like "hey I arrived at the perfect time, cake and beer!" and it was just a great night all around.
So, now Kevin is gone. Its just not the same for any of us. The Good Food family is grieving hard, and is forever changed, as are all the other friends and lives Kevin touched. A void is left behind, it cannot be filled, besides no one wants that void filled... you cannot replace Kevin. Mad Scientist. Artist. Animal Lover. Musician. Vegetarian. Free Spirit. Compassionate Soul. An enigma. Brilliantly smart, ever questioning. Friend to animals, nature and humankind. The gardens will never be the same, the gardens he tended with all his heart and soul. The people he tended will never be the same either. And, those of us who knew him are left behind grieving, hoping he was taken from us so young because so much more waited for him, and he deserved not to wait.
Rest in Peace Kevin. You were loved, and we are better for having known you at all. Blessed Be.
Kevin died while we were away trekking the frozen tundra a few weeks ago. His passing was unexpected, sudden, and a total shock. I waited until Christmas passed for a few reasons. In all honesty I've been too tore up to even begin to cope with this loss. Doesn't it just seem like I just wrote about losing a friend? It was, and now its happened again.
Those of you who have visited us probably met Kevin, and most likely it was at the Good Food Conspiracy. Kevin was the man who often made the soup there. Very thin, usually sporting a very long ponytail sticking out from a cap. I say usually sporting a ponytail because he was known to shave it all off occasionally, and had done so just very recently as well. Kept to himself a lot in the store, but wow was he loved and part of that family.
I remember the first time I met Kevin, it was of course at Good Food, years ago. I was making a cookie delivery for the store, but the store wasn't yet open for the day. I saw a big white truck in the parking lot, peeked inside the front door and saw a mad scientist behind the counter stirring soup. I knocked. He looked up from his soup fixings and then looked away. I was ignored. I knocked again. He looked up, annoyed, came to the door, but wouldn't open up. "I have cookies!" I exclaimed. "I don't know anything about that!" he said back through thick glass. "Marney ordered them, I'm just dropping them off, please will you take them for me?" He opened the door, let me in, and said "just leave them over there" he pointed. I thanked him, and scurried out the door, listening to the lock click behind me. I wondered about the man I had just encountered. What was his story?
Kevin's story turned out to be very complex indeed, and Kevin himself was very complex. I didn't know it that morning, but Kevin would grow to become one of my most favorite people. You see, Kevin was an artist in the purest sense of the word. He created. He saw things in his head, and had music in his soul. Sometimes we were lucky enough he'd get around to re-creating that vision for the world. Whether it was food, gardening, music or tangible art. Didn't matter. He created. I admired.
Kevin was a very private person, and for this reason I will not share too many details of his life here. The thing is, he was so loved, to just let his passing go without discussion would be an injustice in my opinion.
Kevin was absorbed into the family of the Good Food Conspiracy. Like any other family, there's always squabbles, inside jokes, secrets, mysteries, and big love at the core. Oh was Kevin loved and adored by so many, especially his Good Food family. I loved walking into the store and seeing Kevin behind the counter. Often that meant he made the soup that day. Kevin was the creator of my most favorite soup ever, thai coconut. Now, anyone can make thai coconut, but Kevin's was extra special, and everyone (including Kevin) knew it was my favorite.
I think the first time I finally realized how special Kevin became to me was when I returned to the Keys after being gone from here for several months, caring for a dying relative. When I came back, I was physically & emotionally spent. Either the first or second day of my return, a call came to the inn, I think it was from Bonnie at the store. I was told Kevin had made thai coconut soup that day, and it was for me. He had put a container of it in the fridge at the store with my name on it, and I was to be called and told it was there. I hadn't seen Kevin in months, didn't know he even knew what was going on in my life at that time. But, he did. And, he wanted to be part of the healing process for me, and for him that was with food. My favorite soup. I did go and get my soup. He was not there, and even if he would've been there when I picked it up, he was so shy and modest, all he would've done in response to my gratitude was hang his head down and say nothing. Kevin did not wear his emotions on his sleeve, but still waters run deep.
Kevin was amazing. He and I shared some great conversation, some great food, some great parties, and some great times through the years. Remember that picture I posted months ago of Bonnie dancing at Reggae-fest? Kevin was sitting at the fest next to me when I took that picture. He shared my smuggled contraband that day (don't get all in a tizzy folks, I smuggled in vegan apple walnut muffins because vegan food offerings were limited at the event) and I remember crystal clear us sitting in extra low beach chairs, scarfing down apple muffins, rum drinks in hand listening to reggae, both remarking at the same moment how "incredible this moment in time is." Yup, we sure can get philosophical with enough rum (and apple muffins).
Kevin was a fellow Virgo, but whether he wanted his birthday noted varied from year to year. I loved baking for Kevin, a fellow chocoholic. I always put great love and care into my baking, but for Kevin I always pulled out all the stops. This year, he was all about the birthday. Yay! There was even a pot luck party for him. I made his birthday cake; vegan chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache filling and my best notbuttercream chocolate frosting. I swear that cake probably weighed 8 pounds or more, most of it ganache, I made a triple batch of it for that cake. I remember him sawing through that cake, licking chocolate off everything. Laughing. It makes me cry when I think about it. I made him a sign for his garden that said "compassion." It had pink hearts on it.
For my birthday, Kevin made me a piece of art. It's a coconut fish, with black coral for fins, and all sorts of spirals, seeds and more on it. Big gaping mouth, with sharp teeth fashioned from things found in nature. He painted this big wild hanging coconut fish silver & gold for me. Its one of the best gifts ever, and its hanging on my veranda. I love that fish. Now that Kevin is gone, I feel like it should be preserved in a box or something. I never want anything to happen to my big coconut fish because it reminds me of Kevin. After storms, I used to go up and down the beach collecting the best pieces of black coral that had washed in, for Kevin. Now, what will I do when I see all that black coral after next summer's storm season arrives? Its weird. Dumb stuff like that, drives me nuts.
The last time I saw Kevin was at Cindy's birthday party at the No Name Pub before leaving for the cold zone. I blogged about that party. Kevin came late, and all throughout the evening we all wondered where was Kevin, and hoped he would arrive. He came just before the last slices of pizza were eaten.... just in time for cake. He walked in the door, and all of us cheered "Kevin, Kevin!" "yay, Kevin's here!!" and he smiled ear to ear. The love he felt was immense. One person poured him a beer, another sliced cake for him and shoved it into his hands. He laughed, saying something like "hey I arrived at the perfect time, cake and beer!" and it was just a great night all around.
So, now Kevin is gone. Its just not the same for any of us. The Good Food family is grieving hard, and is forever changed, as are all the other friends and lives Kevin touched. A void is left behind, it cannot be filled, besides no one wants that void filled... you cannot replace Kevin. Mad Scientist. Artist. Animal Lover. Musician. Vegetarian. Free Spirit. Compassionate Soul. An enigma. Brilliantly smart, ever questioning. Friend to animals, nature and humankind. The gardens will never be the same, the gardens he tended with all his heart and soul. The people he tended will never be the same either. And, those of us who knew him are left behind grieving, hoping he was taken from us so young because so much more waited for him, and he deserved not to wait.
Rest in Peace Kevin. You were loved, and we are better for having known you at all. Blessed Be.
No comments:
Post a Comment