# @chefaz on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C9sqsChp1VH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20899012-chefaz-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/959d42d99d.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-07-21T20:20:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Andrew Zimmern (@chefaz) — https://gondola.cc/chefaz

## Caption

When my father passed away he sent me a picture of him skiing in Italy in 1977. It was framed, and under the glass was a post it note that said “this is how I want you to remember me.”. Last Friday my friend, spiritual guide, recovery Yoda and sponsor of 32 years passed away. Jim Lynden was an avid traveler, a devoted life partner, a sly, smart, caring man who loved his family and friends with a gritty passion. It’s become popular over the last year to prioritize friends/family/experiences over things. Jim has done that for as long as I’ve known him. Wise and joyous, he shared his experience with others who could benefit from it. And when I say others, I mean thousands. More if you enlarge that to all those who he influenced and the lives he shaped by extension through his incredible family of men he sponsored over the many decades of his own sobriety. No human being is as directly responsible for me getting to have a life that I care about more than Jim. 
There are a hundred stories I want to tell, but the one that means the most to me was the very first Monday night after I got out of treatment. He took me to his home group that immediately became mine, and afterwards he said “we all go out to dinner afterwards, so you should join.” I had no car, no money, no way to get back to the halfway house I was living in, no desire to be with happy people, no confidence; I had nothing. Truly. He pointed to some fellows and suggested I ask one for a lift. He made a lot of suggestions that night. I took all of them and I wound up having a good time with the 15 strangers. I kept coming back and he kept teaching me how to ask for help, how to grow my hopelessness into faith, and that faith into certainty. I have what I need in my life because of this incredibly generous and loving man who devoted his life to helping others. May his memory be a blessing to all who knew and loved him. Huge love to his family from mine. And thanks to his son John for sending me these photos a few weeks ago. I know this is how Jim would want to be remembered. Anonymity doesn’t allow me to show the other pictures I know he loved beyond measure, surrounded by many dozens of sponsees. #theeagle

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- **Likes:** 9,500
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## Tags

theeagle

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