Indulge Your Shelf

in San Francisco.  This time, for real.   Margaret's final resting place is lovely, and quite close to my parents. The priest said all the right things, and I was comforted by his words, and by her family and friends.  My friend Judy took great care of me.  The night of the funeral, we went to dinner and, at the request of Margaret's ex husband... set a place for Margaret, with her favorite drink at it. We toured around SF the next day, quietly remembering times with Margaret. We also remembered Jane, who was a friend of Margaret, Judy and mine, and who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge when she was 20. I'm back home now, and had hoped to feel some peace after the funeral, but it's not working out that way.  I should know by now that grief is unpredictable, and takes its own time. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who wrote words of comfort on my last post. I appreciate all of you.

A few days ago, I got the terrible news that my oldest, dearest, best friend Margaret had passed away.  It was actually only by chance that I found out: an email I had sent her was returned as undeliverable, so I called her to see why.  Her family was so torn apart and in shock that they hadn't managed to organize themselves to begin to notify people like me. This is the last photo I have of Margaret; it was taken on her 50th birthday, almost 2 years ago.  I haven't seen her in person since my last trip to California, in 2008.  I wrote about Margaret once,  here . Margaret and I have been friends since we were both 11 years old.  For our whole lives, my nickname for her has been Piglet; I only started calling her by her real name a few years ago -- because, at our age, Piglet had just become too silly and childish. Even living so far away from each other these last 14 years, we have kept in close touch by phone, email, and visits. I wouldn't dr...

If you're my age, or a little older, you probably can't read that line without getting an ear worm; it's the first line of a folk song that was very popular during my childhood. If I had a hammer I'd hammer in the morning I'd hammer in the evening All over this land And I'd hammer out danger I'd hammer out a warning I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land Last night we went to see Peter and Paul -- but not Mary, as she passed away in 2009 -- the folk singers who made that song so famous back in the day. It was a treat to go; at work, we are sometimes offered free tickets to local events that take place at venues the hotel is associated with. They are first come/first served when announced via a company-wide email. I normally don't see the emails for these giveaways in time -- but Friday, I did, so Dennis and I found ourselves at the Pikes Peak Center last night for the show! We had really great seats....