[/quote] Julia Child seemed so joyful all the time, and I envied her that. What better end to a 91-year life: to love what you do and to pass that love on to millions of others.

Thanks for everything, Julia!

(P.S. Who has visited the reconstruction of her kitchen at the Smithsonian? I’m sure that many are visiting it today.)
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Well said, Catosaurus. Her love of what she did, and her love of sharing it came through honestly and sincerely. A few thoughts came to mind when I heard of her death. I would daresay that without Julia Child, there would not be a Food Network today, and how unfortunate that the FN executives could not see fit to somehow interrupt their pre-programmed schedule to make note of her passing in some way. I see that they have planned a series of memorial programs next week, but unless I missed something, I did not see anything this past weekend. I would think that if the "In Food Today" program were still on, they very well would have noted her passing. Another thing that I respect her for was that in my opinion, she earned, but did not take to personal advantage, the status of being the most "celebrity" of "celebrity" chefs, rather than what we see too much of today – the marketing of the "celebrity," rather than the recognition of talent and contribution to the field. Julia’s personality and authenticity got an entire generation of people interested in learning about new ingredients and how to put them together in an attitude of fun. She knew that food, like music, was a universal language to be shared and enjoyed with others. She contributed much more to us than lines of cookware, spices, kitchen attire, and the like.

I visited the Smithsonian exhibit the weekend it opened. I was awed by how small, but efficient the kitchen was. It seemed like one that anyone could work in. Kudos to the curators, who reconstructed it perfectly. It was like seeing the home of an old friend that we have visited for many years, and is well worth going to.

Thanks, Julia.