Ad Sara, de Consolatione

Sara, Pritchard family, friends,
As fortunate as we are to enjoy the ephemeral joy and beauty of our lives, we all must die.  From our oldest grandparents, to our tiniest babies, the inevitability is the same.  The question becomes: "When?"  For our friend James Patrick Pritchard, the answer is "far too soon."  His dogs are probably very confused, waiting for him to come home.

We played War Robots with James.  Like other online activities, it brings players together in relationships that feel very similar to those formed in the "real world."  We share experiences inside and outside the game.  Sometimes we struggle to characterize our bond - are we brothers-in-arms?  Friends?  At the end of the day, we are just people who relate to each other through the midnight glow of a mobile screen, but we talk about our lives in the same manner as people who live in close proximity.

We liked to talk food, and with JP being shirt-off-his-own-back generous, he would send pictures and commentary from his handwritten recipe book.

I use a blender... and I don’t blend it for too long so there are still chunks of mango.  That’s the amount I make for myself and my lady so you might wanna double it with your family.  Great for fish tacos, man!

JP's "lady" was Sara Root.  Like some of us, she's a teacher.  Like our partners and spouses, she tolerated and probably even nurtured him as he shared himself with the people he encountered online.  We never met JP in person, so we've not met Sara either, but it's safe to say she is also waiting for him to come home.  Sara is undoubtedly the person for whom JP cooked most often; we understood his recipes and notes to be for Sara.

That one is my own like the salsa. Gotta roast the squash in the oven first. I cut it in half (pain in the ass, bring a big knife) use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, and the place a pad of butter in each cavity and roast it in a super hot oven. The rest gets cooked in a pot and then, again, blender/food processor.

We can not console Sara Root any more than we could explain Einstein's theories or how the Big Bang worked, but if we had the opportunity, we would say that we believe James loved her.  Along with his family, Sara was the center of gravity in his life, just as our families are to us.  He gave us a window into who he was, and he brought his humor, his happiness, and his generosity to everyone who knew him.

  

In sauce pan add beer, wine, shallots, honey.

Reduce until it looks pretty

Add cream, bring to boil and reduce heat to low

On low heat slowly add pads of butter and whisk until emulsified and incorporated (if it gets too hot the butter and cream will break, slow and low on the last step)

JP didn't know the "when," so he didn't leave words intended for this occasion.  There is a hole in our lives where our friend was, and it will never close.  For Sara, the Pritchard family, and all the people JP lived to share with, he did make this suggestion:

I’ll meet y’all at Niagara Falls

Then onto anchor bar for pizza and wings

Please accept our deepest condolences for your loss; we will do our best to remember James as he was.

Sincerely,
Corey Layne and Paul Lemle