Every time I think about it, I get so sad. I hate it that ellie is gone. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

She would have enjoyed these past few weeks so much. It's just such a tragedy.

I miss you, elliewyatt. I miss you so much.

Wow. I am so sorry to hear of this news. God Bless her and I dearly hope Peace comes to her family and friends.

-Pieter

You know, Foggy, I do, too. BUT...she lives on in all of us, and in this thread. I love it that we keep coming back here to share things with Ellie, we wander back to mention something we've just remembered she said once. She lives on in our hearts and in her family's hearts. This thread will continue to keep her near and dear.

I keep thinking about the story about her mom fooling around with that famous wrestler whose name escapes me. George?

Rest in Peace elliewyatt,

I hope her family and friends are coping well during these holidays...

Oh my god how did I miss this thread, so so sad, RIP Ellie.

I miss Ellie EVERY day here.

But today's one of those days that I hurt with wishing she were here. Can you just IMAGINE?

Me too, also. Ellie woulda been like a cop on a donut this evening, and I'd a paid money to see it.

I was thinking about Ellie last night, how she'd be taking no prisoners.

Love you and miss you always, Ellie, but especially today.

Every time I buy malasadas, at Leonards' bakery, or the "wannabe" places that imitate Leonards, I'll remember ellie. We'll be having a family morning Christmas brunch this year. I'll remember ellie too. Again....my sincere condolences to her family. She has had far more influence than I think she'd ever have imagined.

I'm going to be making ellie's frybread for Christmas brunch; people can slather it with butter and honey or with Realist's Carne Adovada. I'll remember ellie always, but especially when I make frybread. And my love and condolences to her family as well, with my thanks for all ellie shared with us.

Would anyone be interested in joining with me to discuss what we learned from elliewyatt? It could continue this thread or be its own thread.

One thing that I learned is that treating whole classifications of people (e.g., "the elderly") as if they shared characteristics other than that which defines the classification is intellectually lazy and potentially harmful. Any group of people, no matter how defined, has variety within it. I suppose that might even apply to cRAPsters.

Further, the kinds of labels that I just used are prejudicial to understanding people. "The elderly" carries connotations of frailty and more that I do not intend. "cRAPsters" is, of course, even more prejudicial. I may stick with it, however.

ellie was a unique and wonderful person.

I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it was meeting her and "daddio" in person and sharing a meal and a few hours of delightful conversation with them. Having met daddio, it was easy to see, at least for me, where she gained her unique perspective on life, her compassion for others, her passionate defense of those less privileged, her quick wit and intelligence.

ellie and I shared with each other quite a bit concerning western history, especially with reference to a lot of the "gunfighters" of the west, how we both hated the movies that put some of those folks together when they would have never met each other and/or put them in places there was no evidence they had ever been. (though some of the movies were still entertaining).

I will never forget that meeting, and hold in dear in my heart. I considered it a very special time then, and even more so now.

Some days, while reading TFB, I still fully expect to see a post by ellie, and I can imagine what she'd be saying.

ellie, I really miss you.

Daddio, my thoughts are with you and your family during this holiday season.

Not to take anything at all away from your tribute to ellie, but I believe that could be said of many of the people on TFB and PJ. It is an extraordinary group of people who have assembled here, and I think we are better people for knowing each other even at the social distances of the Web. The country may be a better country as well. One of the most wonderful things is that we do not think alike.

I was thinking during the radio show with Ed how much she laughed at the "Bring me another one" video. She woulda been cracking up the other night.

I'm trying to guess what ellie would have been posting is response to Orly's TFB posts, and I am laughing heartily.

We miss you ellie!

Ach! Youz guyz got me bawling again.

Ellie was one special person and I soooooo miss her POV on everything. Gad, what a biting wit when warranted. What incredible info on subjects I never would have delved into.

Right now my thoughts are so much with her family. I know the hurt is sooooo bad.

I lost my Mom tragically 15 years ago, just a little before Christmas. I'm OK now, but I know how hard it is for her family...

I'm feeling the loss too and especially sympathize with those here who knew Ellie in person and/or longer than I got the chance to. And more so, of course for Ellie's family. I trust she rests in peace because I must.

In addition to boning up on 501c(3) law in the coming year I'm changing my kitchen ways in her memory.

I have always cooked like elliewyatt. By the time dinner is in the table, I've used all available pots and pans, a different utensil for each task, there's flour on the floor, on the cat, in my hair, the counters are invisible under the dirty dishes to be washed.

Last night, I made the requested beef stew with dumplings, cleaning as i went and reusing pots and utensils. When I looked around the kitchen before sitting down to eat, I was quite pleased! Thank you elliewyatt, for your stories of cooking with Capt. Trips. You have inspired me.

.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. As I mentioned upthread, I made ellie's fry bread for christmas brunch, which turned out to be a late lunch...we all have a relative who's always late, right?

I think the dough sat too long thanks to our late arrival, plus I was using a deep fryer instead of a skillet, so what I got was more like large, fry bread beignets...but OMG the flavor!

They were served with a choice of butter and honey or Carne Adovada, recipe courtesy of Realist. Nobody took the butter honey option. One bite of the fry bread with Carne Adovada, and everyone went back and ladeled some more over the fry bread they'd set aside for butter and honey.

I got to talk for a couple minutes about who ellie was to me and to PJ/TFB, and to tell them about this thread and how my menu choice had come about. A glass was raised by Clan Harkness to toast elliwyatt and her family, and another to toast Realist for the Adovada recipe. (insert that sound Homer Simpson makes when confronted with donuts or bacon)

For the record, there was also melon with prosciutto and basil, glazed ham, sauteed pineapple (OMG, with the ham!) and the dreaded sticky cinnamon rolls made every year by a family friend. Rather pork intensive, but hey...it's a holiday.

Thanks for all the memories, ellie, and for the recipes.

I know it seems silly but I still cry when I remember that we have lost Ellie. I like you keep thinking that she is going to post on a thread. I keep wishing that all of a sudden there will be a post from our Ellie! And then I realize that it is not possible. And like Foggy I just lose it. I cannot imagine what we are going to do without her. But I know she would have wanted us to go on. I KNOW that she would have wanted us to keep after these assholes, cause that is exactly how ellie rolled.

Merry Christmas to all of you.....

I have come by frequently in the past month to see how the topic was progressing and I am so happy to see you are all still remembering Ellie here.

It is an understatement to say that Ellie was missed at Christmas this year. But her spirit has definitely lived on in her daughter (my wife). Our house was decorated beautifully, as it always is, and I'm sure in some way, somehow, Ellie was able to see it and smile to herself. Though she wasn't religious, Ellie absolutely adored the entire holiday season (starting with Thanksgiving and ending with the New Year), and transferred her love for the season to my wife when she was just a kid. As Ellie taught her years ago, the house is decorated beautifully, but isn't gaudy. The decorations are done up to a point that our guests realize it is a special time of year without the over-the-top-ness of houses they show on TV with such tacky decorations that it brings back memories of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the house of Griswald.

Ellie believed that Christmas was a time for family and would do whatever was necessary to get us all together for it. Whether her daughter and I came to Northern California to visit her and her husband when we lived in Los Angeles, or the two of them came to Los Angeles to visit us.....or she came to visit us from Arizona after we both moved to our current locations, we all did whatever was possible to be together for the holidays over the past 11 years.

With that in mind, I have to tell you all that Ellie's father, whom some of you call "Daddio", came to visit us this past week for the Christmas Eve and Day celebration. You see, Christmas is almost a three day ritual with us. Christmas Eve is for the big dinner and perhaps a couple of presents, Christmas Day is for the opening of gifts, opening of the stockings and either going out for dinner or seeing the "big" movie at the time (last year it was Avatar, past years brought us the three Lord of the Rings movies, The Aviator, Titanic, etc.) and the day after Christmas is when the "really really BIG" presents are opened by our kid, Oscar.

For Daddio to get here, he drove the same route Ellie herself took when the accident happened a little over a month ago. We were able to talk him into making the trip over two days rather than doing it all in one 14 hour drive. He is back home now after completing the trip back all in one day. He brought many of Ellie's possessions for my wife to have. Some Navajo jewelry, old pictures, a painting, a lovely doll in a glass box and other personal belongings understandably brought my wife to tears.....none more so than the beautiful Navajo ring that was obviously cut from her finger. It is so pretty and since Ellie was wearing it at the time of the accident, I believe my wife is going to get it soldered back in place and wear it in memory of her mommy.

I told Daddio all about this web site and the great friends of Ellie that post here, but at the current time, he just isn't interested in checking it out. Not because he doesn't care about all of you, but rather he just isn't at the point where he can really even discuss what happened, much less read about it.

So Christmas was okay. It was as good as it possibly could be under the circumstances. Dinner was awesome (if I say so myself), the gift opening was a lot of fun, but all in all, just having family here made the holiday. We had Daddio, Ellie's husband, his sister and friend, my wife, myself and our son.

As far as dinner goes, I made all the traditional items:

Christmas Dinner 2010

Starter
Butternut Squash Bisque- my wife's favorite!

Side Dishes
Fresh Cranberries with Citrus and Mint
Southern Baked Yams- Ellie's favorite!
Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
Sautéed Spinach w/ Lemon and Chardonnay
Sautéed Carrots and Parsley
Roasted and Herbed Root Vegetables

Entrees
Roast Turkey with Dressing and Giblet Gravy
Baked Bone-In Ham with Orange Rum Mustard Glaze

Dessert
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Assorted Chocolates and Cookies

I hope I haven't made anyone hungry!!

At some point in January or February, my wife and her dad will head out to Arizona to go through Ellie's house in order to save some of the most important things from her life so they live on in ours.
Anyway, I am rambling now. Let me wrap it up by thanking you all again for keeping Ellie's name and memory going. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy (and safe) New Year!

I'll see you again, soon.....

Thanks for the update, Capt. Trips. I'm glad to hear you all made it through a tough holiday season and glad you keep coming back. It helps. Ellie is still missed.

Hope you all have a happier new year.

Yeah, youre making me hungry! It sounds scrumptious! Ellie loved to talk about food and remembered whole meals for us sometimes.

Merry Christmas to you, too, Capt. I feel for Daddio, having to make the same drive, alone. The stabbing pain in the heart will diminish a bit, and the sobbing at random remarks; it does get easier, eventually. Meanwhile, she's up there looking out for us.

I'm really glad to see you again.