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I did two training sessions at The Gow School for the maintenance staff.

Many of the fine people in attendance were also working there when Jeff was on campus as the head chef.

I barely got started on the lesson plan when a woman, a friend of Jeff’s said:

“It’s so nice to see a piece of him again.”

I laughed.

“He was funnier than me.”

She launched into a story.

“I drove a golf cart around campus in those days,” she said. “Jeff found out.”

I laughed without hearing anything else.

“He would hide it. He chocked the wheels. Rigged it so it would only travel in reverse. He put things on the seat, and on the steering wheel. All things that made me roar with laughter. Every day he messed with me and I started looking forward to it.”

“Sounds about right,” I said.

“He lifted up so many people every day.”

There were tears in her eyes. I touched her shoulder.

“And you have similar features and his mannerisms.”

“We couldn’t have been closer,” I said. “And I laugh because I never have to wonder what he might think about something. We loved the same things.”

As the class went on, I had a great appreciation for the school and those who shared stories and laughs with me.

There’s a beautiful plaque hanging in the kitchen area.

Everyone there carries Jeff all across that campus.

“God, he was such a funny dude,” Jeff’s buddy, Rick said. “Life was great when he was around.”

You can say that again.



Comments

Rick Hausauer said…
Spot on! Jeff was the first chef to interact with the students, and broke the mold of all the previous chefs we had. He forever changed the expectations we have for all chefs to come.
05 November, 2021
Cliff Fazzolari said…
So great to see how alive he is around the campus! Did my heart good and you were a great class!
05 November, 2021
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