Seamus Heaney wrote a poem recalling the happy memory of peeling potatoes with his mother:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Seamus Heaney, “Clearances III” from Opened Ground: Selected poems 1966-1996
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other’s work would bring us to our senses.
It felt that way many times, working happily with you… work made fun and enjoyable because we did it together.
We passed through each others’ careers in an instant. Then, one day, we noticed the pleasant splashes stopped in one place and began in another. I will miss the partnership. And you. But our shared moments are fondly held – the most revered, yet unwritten, accomplishments of my resume.
This Old Cloud 