A memorial to my Dad

One year ago today, my Dad died. It was unexpected and completely devastating to me. I was always close to my Dad and miss him every day. His name was Richard Knowles, known to all his friends as Dick (in Portuguese it was pronounced “Gee-key”)

Why am I posting this in a food blog? Because in our family, food is love. And also, the last day I saw my Dad alive, we cooked together.

Dad was an amazing cook and there was nothing he enjoyed more than to cook for people that he loved. He, my brother Brian and I would spend hours together in the kitchen, trying new dishes and perfecting old favorites.

The Knowles family 2010

Some of my best memories of my Dad involve cooking great feasts for a house full of beloved friends and then sitting around the table, eating the delicious food and laughing until my sides hurt at Dad’s hilarious stories.

Stories about his language mix ups when he was learning Portuguese in Brazil, stories about how he and my Mom got together and were married in a tiny church in Brazil in the middle of the jungle

stories about his misadventures on various shopping trips to the big city, stories about all these funny things that seemed to always happen to him.

He had the best sense of humor. He told jokes that made everyone laugh and never poked fun at people in a hurtful way. He could laugh at himself most of all. He was someone that everyone liked to be around, because he always made you feel good about yourself…while feeding you something delicious.

Many of the dishes on this blog have been things that we cooked together. Every post that I write, I mentally run past him. And quite possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said about this blog was when my Mom told me that Dad would have loved it and would have been so proud of me.

Mom and Dad in Charleston, the week before he died

I had a very difficult time right around the holidays. We always cooked big family feasts at the holidays as well as our special dishes that we cooked on just regular days.

We were able to start working on this site right before Christmas and it has helped motivate me to express myself with my cooking that I love so much. It’s been a living memorial to my Dad who inspires me each and every day.

Thank you, Alice for giving me this forum with which to share the love.

I love you Dad.

Brendy Wendy