Kiki’s Corner: Goodbye, my love, my best fried
Trending
The last couple weeks were the worst in my life for myself and for my whole family. I lost Francis, my husband for 60 years and my best friend.
When someone gets sick, we all have hopes and pray for recovery, and that's what I was doing for my dear, beloved husband. I was giving him hope, and I was telling him not to lose his faith. I knew that he was a very religious person, and I had no fear about that . He told us one night he had a dream and he saw Jesus. He was so excited, and he said the streets were full of thousands and thousands of people that followed him. He said that to everyone that was coming to his room in the hospital and in the rehab hospital to visit him.
Unfortunately, no one is prepared for something like that, the person that's sick and his or her family. I never questioned why it's happening to him, because we're not better than anybody else, but at the same time I was praying all the time for a miracle.
Francis was a very religious man, businessman, musician, great teacher, great husband, great father, great grandfather and great friend to all. So many of you that came to visit him at the funeral home, you were able to see the love, the kind words everybody shared with us.
He taught music for 34 years, starting in Coolville, Ohio, teaching orchestra, and then started the Federal Hocking marching band in Stewart, Ohio, as many of you read in my article last week. He touched so many lives. His students who are adults now came to see him before he left this world.
If I just had three or four pages in the newspaper to write all the stories, all the great memories and the love they shared with our family, all his students, our friends, co-workers, businesspeople and relatives that came from all over - it was unbelievable. I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart that came to the visitation and the funeral the next day. I wish I could write everyone's name to thank you personally for standing in line. Many told me that they waited one hour; others told me two hours and others two-and-a-half. At the end of the day, some of them had to sign their names and leave because it was too late to get in to say the last goodbye to Francis.
Also, I want to thank all of you that brought food to all our families, mailed an unbelievable number of cards and sent a huge, huge amount of beautiful, gorgeous flowers to honor him, and your generous donations made for Francis to the St. James Greek Orthodox Church building project. It was greatly appreciated, and each one of you touched my heart with your kindness and thoughtfulness. He will be deeply missed by all his loving family and everyone that knew him.
Before I forget, I would like to make a correction to my last week's article that was misprinted: Sophia (Brian) Colombo.
Huge gratitude and appreciation from my whole family to all the amazing doctors that helped and provided the best care and offered their professional dedication to my dear Francis before he passed: Dr. Kelli Cawley, Dr. Sabir Hussain, Dr. Abiy Kelil, Dr. David Mendoza, Dr. Chris Miller and Dr. Steven Richards. All of you were a true blessing from above, and you tried the best you could.
Also a huge thanks to the Leavitt funeral home for the great service and help that they provided to our family in those difficult days.
Special thanks to the Rev. Father Mark Elliott from St. James Greek Orthodox Church, Belpre, Ohio. The chanters were Daniel Hess and Joanna Swann. A piano duet was played by Jane Linscott and Theresa Lackey. The violin was played by Ashley Clark.
It was a perfect funeral service for our special and loving pillar of our family Francis George Angelos. May he eternally rest in peace now. He has done his work on Earth. May God Bless him always. We will miss him soooo much. Hopefully we will see him again .
I hope I didn't miss anyone, and if I did, please forgive me.
I will finish my article today by sharing with you something that comes out of my heart:
Dear Francis, I miss the times when it was just you and me, when everything felt simple and safe. Sixty years ago came by so fast. We celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary, and you wanted to be there with us so much to celebrate, but then the next day you passed. Goodbye came so suddenly, and I wasn't ready to lose what we had.
Now, we're standing on separate paths, pretending we're OK, even when we're not. I still replay our laughter, our late night talks, the quiet comfort of your presence. Though we are no longer together, my heart still holds you gently. Some love doesn't fade. It stays forever till we meet again.
May your memory be eternal!
Till next week .
***
Deep dish quiche
Base mixture
1 10-inch unbaked pie shell at room temperature
6 eggs
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Carefully transfer the pastry to a 10-inch fluted deep tart pan.
A 10-inch Springform pan may be substituted.
Press the pastry to the edge of the pan, smoothing edges upward until level with the top of the pan.
Place cheese and your choice of fillings into the crust.
Mix together eggs, whipped cream, salt, pepper and sugar. Pour over filling in crust.
Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until the filling is set. Do not over brown.
Yield: 1 quiche , 6-8 portions
***
Filling variations
Turkey almond:
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
2 cups cooked turkey, diced
1/4 cup almonds, toasted
1 medium onion diced
Three-cheese quiche
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Crab meat
1/2 bunch green onions, diced
2 cups surimi crab
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Quiche Lorraine
1/2 cup bunch green onions, diced
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 cup bacon, cooked, diced
Broccoli and ham
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups cooked ham, diced
10 oz broccoli, chopped (thaw and drain well if using frozen)
1 medium onion, diced