The Goodbye
When I first moved up to Yosemite I met a man named Brent. He trained me and then left me alone for a couple of hours on my first day which terrified me and made me question the type of person he was to just leave me like that. I used to describe him to my friends as the ideal hot line cook from a movie or TV show; he had a mess of curls that he would tie up and always wore aprons covered in various foods showcasing his lengthy time in the kitchen.
When I left Yosemite I wrote everyone letters and I promised to be back soon to see them again. Of course, life got in the way and I never went back.
There weren't a lot of breaks working in the kitchen in Curry Village, it was constantly busy. Yet, there were moments when it slowed down just enough for conversation to flow. Of course, as a writer I try my best to document every person I meet and every conversation I have with them. On September 22, 2023 I sat down and wrote about my impressions of my co-workers. I told them that one day I might write a book about all the people I’ve met and I was excited to include them and they were excited to be apart of it.
My first impression of Brent was that he was a very cool and friendly guy. We had a lot of conversations working together but my favorite was when we were talking about our futures and our goals in life. He told me that he wanted to go to culinary school in France and I told him that I had similar goals. I wanted to move out there to study wine. We decided at that moment that when we moved out there that it would be cool to still know each other, so that we could then exchange good food with good wine.
He was one of few that I allowed on aux and one time he played the song “My Last,” by Big Sean and Chris Brown, we both agreed that the song was too good to only listen to once and so he replayed it. Now, of course, I have it on repeat right now and I can honestly say it describes him perfectly. He is one of few people that I’ve met who I can confidently say truly lived life the way it’s supposed to be lived: at large, untamed, and adventurous.