A Perfect Day

Colleen Dorian, mother of Roseanne, and grandmother of Ana

I had the most wonderful day yesterday!  Who would have thought?  The weather had been gloomy and chill recently, and I had to wake up early to go to a funeral.  Not such a great outlook for the day, I thought.  I decided to cycle, and once I got on my way, I realized that the day was October-perfect!  The sun was aglitter and the trees were aglow.  The air was crispy and a tiny bit crunchy. My favorite weather in my favorite month of the year, and I was able to breezily roll along in its perfection.

The perfect Seattle day

  I arrived at the church and looked around.  There was no one I knew, other than the family, and they were doing whatever families have to before funerals, part of which is not paying attention to the likes of me.  That comes afterwards.  I tried to fade from notice and seemed to be succeeding, when I saw the director from a choir I (and most of Coleen’s family) had sung in many years before, and whom I hadn’t been able to chat with for well over a decade.  He looked to be in the same situation as I – a little uncomfortable and not knowing most of the people there.  We made a bee line for one another.  “You can be my date for the day,” I said.  He readily agreed.  Soon others from our old choir arrived. I was so happy to see them.  It was as though no time had elapsed at all, and I felt wrapped in the warmth of their good feeling.  It is such a wonderful thing to meet old friends, not seen for years, and to be able to pick up where you left off as though no decade had intervened.

Coleen, the mother of my friend Roseanne, and grandmother of Ana, whom my faithful readers have met, if not in real life, at least virtually here in blogland, died last week after a long and rough illness.  Her funeral was one of the most moving I have been to, with her family’s love for her apparent in every nuance.  The service was perfect, the music was wonderful.  It included songs that Roseanne (an amazing soprano) and I had often done together in the past.  They had special meaning for both of us, and later, Roseanne said that she had thought of me when selecting the music.  I had been certain that this would have been the case, and had warm rushes when I heard the songs that had so bound us years ago.

Wonderful old friends

I am embarrassed to be sounding like the funeral was all about me, which of course it was not at all.  But the whole thing was such a wonderful experience for me – being with such kind and generous people from whom I had drifted away – and being with Roseanne and her family also, made this one of the best days in a long time. 

Flor - beautiful in every way

Maryanne and Bernadette haven't changed a bit