Remembering a favorite "aunt"...

It has been eighteen hours now since I first heard the news about the passing of Julia Child. And now, i'm mourning her passing like the loss of a relative... You have to understand, I watched my mom cook when I was a kid, and I learned to cook from her and from home ec classes, but I was educated by Julia Child. She was like a favorite aunt who came to my house every week to show off her wonderfully bizarre sense of humor while she made some incredible dish for me to try out. At first, it was just her, but later on, she would bring her friends along, and for the last several years, it was always "Aunt" Julia and her crazy french friend Jack, as she called him, playfully bickering about whether or not she put enough garlic for him in her dishes, and his frustration when she wanted beer instead of wine with her food... I never had the pleasure of actually meeting Julia, but I feel like I have known her almost all my life.Julia was a pioneer, the person who first brought real cooking to a country looking for different tastes, looking for something besides meatloaf and mac & cheese casseroles to serve at the dinner table.She took French cuisine and brought it to the american masses, and in doing so, created a whole new culture, and a whole new entertainment form; the TV chef.Without Julia, there would have been no fame and fortune for those that would follow in her footsteps. Emeril, Jacques, Alton, Mollie, Maryann, Lidia, and everyone else...all owe their success as TV chefs to Julia. To borrow a quote about Barbara Walters from Sam Donaldson's book of a few years ago, Julia was either the "grande dame" or "old broad" of TV cooking, depending on how you looked at it. Somehow, I don't think she'd be offended by either term, as long as they were meant with affection. Part of my childhood has left me forever, and although I will go on, i'll take very fond memories of my Saturday mornings and afternoons with "Aunt" Julia with me for the rest of my life.As my significant other put it yesterday, "If you still have to eat when you're in heaven, the menu just got a whole lot better." Goodbye, Julia. I and all of your millions of fans and students around the world will miss you terribly, and will never forget what you have brought to the world. "The French Chef" is gone, and the food world, and our lives, will never be quite the same.