I want you to know that Kathy called me this morning to inform me of your passing; it saddened me terribly. Naturally I was hoping you would get to 101, then I would have gladly brought you three bottles of Crown Royal; remember I brought you one bottle when you turned 99, then two on your 100th, and it would have been my pleasure to bring three bottles on your 101st.
I already miss you, I miss our excursions to hunt the ditches in search of greens…you always knew where they were. They were delicious after we cooked them and drenched them in olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Your stifado and frickasay was the best I ever tasted…anywhere; and who’d of ever thought that a 99 year old Greek man could turn out enchiladas better than any Mexican. I can still hear you when you’d call me and say; “Pete, call everybody for lunch, I’m cooking today.” And I’d call Tom Jolas, Soc and Telly Pappajohn along with everyone else and simply say; “John’s cooking…those few words would fill the table.
John you represented those who came to this country in search of a better life, you and millions of other from all corners of the earth who picked up and left their families and villages with little resources to embarked upon a journey to a strange land became the fabric that built this country into what it is. Each year those like you are disappearing, becoming rare on our landscape. I will miss you something terrible; may your memory be eternal……
Peter Children
