meet the Criswells

We had a very nice sit-down with Reverend Bob Criswell, our church's previous pastor, and with his son Jim, the church's current music director. Jim brought over a truckload of his favorite dish, made by him and his lovely wife Anastasia-- rosemary chicken and potato, with Greek olive oil and garlic cooked to the point of sweetness. I think I'll need to ask Jim or his better half for the recipe.

Pastor Criswell looks great for a man who's gone through his own share of medical ordeals. I won't talk about them here, but suffice it to say that it was touching to see him hugging Mom: two people who know only too well what it means to be very, very sick. As with Mom, Pastor Criswell's woes began shortly after he retired.

Dad and I talked with the pastor and his son, with Mom largely spectating. While the conversation ranged around several topics, the one that occupied the most time was travel-- train travel, plane travel, Europe, America, Canada, Korea, Israel, etc. Pastor Criswell said he still wanted to meet with me to talk about my book (he's one of only a handful of people interested enough in the subject matter to want to talk about it). I don't know when I'll be able to make it up to New York, where he lives, but I look forward to the discussion.

We were all talking so happily that we forgot to give the Criswells our own gift: two of Dad's homemade rum cakes. Dad flew out the door after our guests had left and successfully delivered the cakes. Mom and I, meanwhile, dug in to the Criswells' lovely dinner, which truly was scrumptious. Many thanks to Jim and Anastasia for their kind efforts. Dad is already eying the Criswells' other gift: a huge container of banana pudding.


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