Stuffed Calamari

Though my wife and I saw them only once or twice a year, Larry and Claire (not their real names) were two of our oldest friends, having known each other for some 30-odd years.  About a year ago, Claire called and invited us to their home for dinner.

“I’ve been wanting to try out a new stuffed calamari recipe," Claire proudly informed my wife.

As my wife walked into the TV room, where I was watching the Yankees, I asked, "Who was on the phone?"

"Claire.  She invited us to eat at their house on Saturday.”

"Oh,” I moaned.  “It’s so far.  Well, yeah, all right,"  I said, more interested in watching the game than continuing the conversation.  "She’s a good cook anyway."

"She’s making stuffed calamari."

"What?!" I almost shouted, instantly turning from the TV back to my wife.

"I’m no big fan of calamari either,” my wife said.  “But she was all excited about this new recipe and..."

"The only thing," I interrupted, "I dislike more than calamari is stuffed calamari.  Can’t we make up some excuse and not go?"

"Claire and Larry are two of our oldest friends.  We only see them once or twice a year.  So for one night we eat something we’re not crazy about.  Let’s try and think of it this way:  We’re not going there to eat, we’re going to visit with two old friends we haven’t seen in awhile."

"Yeah, alright," I replied, wanting to get back to the game.

That Saturday night, after struggling (and swearing) through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the outbound George Washington Bridge as well as on the New Jersey turnpike, owing to something going on at The Meadowlands, we finally arrived at our friends’ home about fifteen minutes late.  After some appetizers and chitchat, we all sat down to a dinner that my wife and I were pleasantly surprised to actually enjoy – Claire’s calamari recipe was unexpectedly quite tasty...and it was followed by a wonderful dessert, which Claire took great pride in creating.  To cap everything off, Larry put out a selection of after-dinner drinks, some of which he brought back from their recent trip to Italy.  All in all, a very lovely, enjoyable evening.

I spoke with Larry on the phone a couple of times over the next few months, but I never saw him again.  His son called to tell me that his father had suffered a heart attack (most unexpectedly, since he was in relatively good health, not very old, and had no history of heart problems) and passed away in the hospital.  After getting over the initial shock, all I could think about – and still think about to this day – was how close I had come to not going to dinner that night and seeing one of my oldest friends for the last time...and how my wife’s words – “We’re not going there to eat, we’re going to visit with two old friends...” – turned out to be so telling.