I got a call on Wed that my mother had died. This was completely unexpected and out of the blue. My brother and sister drove down to VA from Baltimore immediately. By the time I got the news, it was 9:00 on Wed night, and there were no more usable trips out of Providence or Boston that would get me there any sooner than simply taking the first flight in the morning.
My friend Dan was a hero to me. He came over and sat with me while I made plane and car reservations, occasionally saying things like “since I’ll be watching the cats and bringing in the mail, you need to give me a house key,” and “don’t forget dark socks with that suit.” What a guy. So I hurtled down to Baltimore airport and drove to National airport to meet redmed, who had finagled a red-eye from California. That went well, and her luggage finally caught up with us today, by FedEx.
There is no funeral planned, per-se. We’ve got many family members here, saying our goodbyes and comforting each other over the weekend. Sometime when the flowers are coming up, we will put together a memorial service and give everyone who wants to come down lots of time to plan their trip. This, I hope, will maximize the number of people who are able to come and share time with us.
I plan to live here with my dad for the forseeable future, at least the next few weeks.
Thanks to everyone, from the very core of my heart, for your well wishes, the phone calls, the emails, and everything else. Thanks to the neighbors, I don’t think we’ll have to cook for the next week or so.
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