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Amy Duvall
(...continued)
He loved to cook, and I was
amazed at the things he would make. I was FLOORED when he told me he made
pumpkin pies from scratch for Thanksgiving. I said, "You mean you made
the pie crust from scratch, right?" And Tony said, "Well, yeah, but I
also carved the pumpkin, boiled down the pumpkin, and made the filling,
too." Geesh! And then you had his small chicken or turkey...he had a use
for every part of that bird...bones for soup, skin for gravy, organs for
stuffing. I was so amazed...I am just now learning to fend for myself in
the cooking world.
Dinner after a Paul Hill Chorale concert, March 1997. From left to right: Richard Hsu, Amy Duvall, Gretchen Von Iderstein, Tony, Nicole Merola, Martha Went, Becky Holmes. Every time I came to DC for whatever reason -- interview, holiday, whatever -- Tony would always take me to dinner, drive me around the monuments at night, and just be there to talk. He was always up for a movie, or a show, or a walk around the Mall, or even a crossword. Honestly, after he was diagnosed, everything I did with him seemed to be a big deal, a wonderful memory to me, even if it was spending an entire Saturday doing crosswords together and watching Pop-Up videos together on VH1. I just loved to spend time with him, to have those memories. I had deep conversations with him about religion, and that is an amazing memory for me, but not really one that can be shared...I just respected Tony for the differences we had...I talk constantly and he said very little, but when he did talk, it always seemed to be profound...and as much as it drove me up the wall that he wasn't more open at times, I loved it when he did have something to say.
On the couch after dinner. He was certainly the DIRECT opposite of me in those regards. We always commented on that. I would never shut up and he barely said two words, but like I said, when he said something, it was always wonderful. I think the story that just popped into my head will be one of those things that you needed to be there for, but here goes. Last Christmas Break, I went to see the most recent Romeo and Juliet film at the Foundry Theater in Georgetown with Tony. He didn't say much at all during the movie, and when it was done, he just sat in his seat quietly. I turned to him and said, "Well, I thought it was marvelous. I loved the modern interpretation with the original words. The acting was great. What did you think?" And Tony said to me, "I'm not sure I enjoyed the interpretation." "Well, what didn't you like about it?" I asked him. And he said, "I don't think Shakespeare intended Romeo and Juliet to seem so juvenile, to the extent that their naivete killed them. It was their intense, and albeit juvenile, love that killed them, but not the fact they were young in and of itself." I just sat there thinking, "This entire movie he was contemplating this deep observation while I was checking out Leonardo Di Caprio's butt." =)
"God bless --
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