Bloorp.

I remember this moment like it was yesterday. It’s one of my absolute favourite memories of Richard and I’m so, so thankful that my girl Christina was notorious for taking little nonsense videos on her point-and-shoot all those years ago.

The short and sweet clip you see above was one of them and for a fleeting second, I can almost make myself believe that Richie is back here with us where he belongs, smiling that little smile of his, as if nothing’s changed…

We were having a dinner party at my pal Justin’s, and our master chef Richie was teaching us how to flip pancakes.

He handed me that very pan and ran through the proper wrist flick that would send the flapjack spinning in the air, then landing smoothly on the non-stick surface. I took the pan reluctantly, afraid of dropping it or the pancake or that some general Emily Claire bumbling would inexplicably set the kitchen ablaze.

Richie, however, was firm and confident. So I went for it. There were some near misses but not long after came my first successful attempt — the pancake sailed gracefully in the air and landed snugly back in in the pan. I was so excited by this newly discovered skill that I had to fight the urge to flip every damn pancake within sight…and it was all thanks to Richie.

I miss him. I miss him so much that almost five years later, it still hurts. I don’t know if that will ever change, but memories like this help ease the pain and remind me that I once had a wonderful friend who made me a better person simply by having him in my life.

Merry Christmas, Richie.

Canadian magazine readers who value the beauty and strength of accurate facts, immaculate punctuation and elegant, precise prose have lost a best friend. Cynthia Brouse, the country’s finest fact-checker, copy editor and teacher of those same skills died on June 19, 2010 at age 52.

—

globeandmail.com: CYNTHIA BROUSE 1957 - 2010

The skills I learned in her class will continue to feed me for years to come. She was a great teacher. Thanks Cynthia!

(via aaronleaf)

I reiterate Aaron’s assessment that this woman was a wonderful teacher and hard not to like. I can’t look at a poorly edited, typo-filled sentence without thinking of everything she taught me.

The year she taught me, I wrote a story about foreign toilets and one thought that occurred to me during the writing process was, “I wonder what the style guide rules are on defecation?” Such thoughts would never have crossed my mind if not for her.

Rest in peace, Cynthia. You are missed.