It all sounds so serious and yet even though I have been thinking about this now for the past few months I feel so good in finally sharing it as I should have years ago. Instead I carried it tucked snugly into my heart and thoughts and unfortunately did not give it enough of my attention as it deserved.
We all owe a mountain of debt to our parents and that is just the way it goes. I can never thank them enough for what they did for me individually and together as parents. However, my mother years ago did one thing that has really added to my life and helped to take it in new directions. This happened while we lived in Paris, France back in the 1970's when the dollar was worth 3.9 francs in 1971 or 1972. I was working during the summers at the American Embassy and earning American dollars that I had to convert into French francs to buy my wines first at the various Nicolas stores and then later at Steven Spurrier's Caves de la Madeleine.
For my 21st birthday my mother gave me a wine class experience, the first one offered by Steven Spurrier and his staff. I had been already buying with my father wine in his shop and right next door he opened the Academie du Vin. A couple of day's ago I asked my mother what she remembered about this gift and this period of time. I told her I wanted to blog about it as it definitely was a very important moment in my life that really only became apparent much later after leaving France in August of 1980 to return home here to Washington D.C. in the States. I am paraphrasing her in these next thoughts/sentences to follow.
When Mom called after hearing the news about these wine classes on the French television stations and reading about them in the French newspapers she was greeted with uncertainty. She explained to Patricia Gallagher and Jon Winroth ( both Americans ) that she wanted to give her 21-year-old son the gift of these wine classes. Their response was that I might not at all fit in with a bunch of stuffy older men used to drinking champagne. On further prodding they would be willing to let me attend the first class and see what happened.
When I returned home that evening after the first class with a red nose my mom knew that it had been a success. The next morning she said to me : " I got a call from Mrs Steven Spurrier ( she meant Patricia Gallagher ) " who said that everyone had loved me, that I had been the life of the party. They would like for me to return which of course I did and to this day I still remember the Cotes du Jura from Vichot-Girad I think. The first class did a tour around France and I had never heard then of the wines of Jura. Thus began my French wine education and I am only sorry that I did not keep my notes of these events.
My then girlfriend ( now my wife ) took this same class years later I think in 1979 and I will ask her what she remembers because I would like to include that, too.
" It was one of my most inspired moments but you carried it off beautifully " said my mother two morning's ago over the phone. She was talking about offering me this class. I agree. I am so thrilled to have had this opportunity and if I had only kept my notes and taken pictures back then! That all came much later I am afraid and so all I have to turn to are dusty memories that have not been disturbed in years!
Anyway Mom I want to thank you now in front of all these faceless cyberspace readers who's names and faces will largely never be known to me. " Thank you ! ". How could any of us have known that I would earn my livelihood in wine ( as a wine-educator ) along with pursuing all my artistic " bents " from writing stories, emails, blogs and poetry along with drawing, painting, sketching, making collages, etcetera. " What a long, strange trip it's been " to paraphrase the Dead's lyrics in the song " Truckin' " ; and I wouldn't have missed a beat or changed a thing, really. " Thanks again Mom, I love you ". TONY
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