I think most people know that wine has been around for thousands of years and is used to celebrate births, weddings, graduations, regular dinners, and even deaths.
This past weekend we buried my 94-year old father. He is not one to be mourned. He was the middle of six boys who grew up in Burlington, North Carolina. He lived close to nature. At 18 he was drafted into WWII and when he returned home he was the first and only one of two to go to college at Elon in NC on the GI Bill. He was a master gardener who fought for keeping our streams and waterways clean and our oceans healthy. These are just many of the accomplishments and interests he had. Spending time with his children and grandchildren being among them.
He passed his knowledge and enthusiasm along to all four of his daughters (who all went to college in his honor). Along with that he passed his love of a good party, which always included interesting international food and exquisite wine and wine-food pairings with interesting conversation and hours of learning about each other. At this particular celebration we talked mostly about Daddy and learned new things about him that we had not known before.
So we celebrated his life and people brought food like jalapeno hummus, ham, pita bread, and mostly a lot of other Mediterranean food. What was really special for me was that I provided 16 bottles of a red and white mix of wine!! Everyone loved it. It really made the evening unique and I felt that I contributed in a unique and one-of-a-kind-way. I heard visitors talking about how delicious the wine was over and over again. I was able to provide a special component to our celebration of a life well lived in a special way that meant a lot to our family. You see we always have good wine at our social gatherings and this was the icing on the cake for a life of a man who was the icing on the cake for our family.