August 15th, 2009 by Steve
Life can be so weird and wrong. It is my 39th birthday, March 9th, 2009. I am sitting here in Verona. It’s early morning and I’m writing about my mother’s death on her former laptop, which I inherited. There’s a batch of photos from XMas ‘07 she had loaded onto the computer, shots of us making cookies and setting up the tree. I’m thankful we had all been together that year, one last time together in Mom’s little house. There’s a shot of her regarding the still undecorated tree with an expression so fixed and contemplative- I wonder what she was thinking. Mom was scared to grow old, scared to die, though she faced these fears with pragmatism and strength as she faced everything. I just hope that, when she went down, she fell into the darkness too quickly to be afraid. This thought haunts me. Read the rest of this entry »
August 15th, 2009 by Steve
So now we must take a final road-trip in my Mother’s car, but she will be missing. It’s up to Rich and me to drive her Toyota back to F’Burg. One morbid hassle- Mom requested cremation in her living will and so she’s been taken to a mortuary in Rochester for the procedure. The legalities of the death process require at least a day before she can be cremated, so in order to bring her remains with us, we would have to stick it out for another 24 hours in this hospital town. This is more than Rich and I can face. We’ve had enough of Rochester, MN. The folks at the mortuary assure us that they can get Mom’s remains to Virginia by the end of the week (we’re planning the funeral for Sunday July 20th) so we decide to leave town Monday. Read the rest of this entry »
August 15th, 2009 by Steve
The days leading up to Mom’s funeral tumble into memory, disjointed and patchy, full of the tears and laughter and grim exhuberance we associate with family disasters. We remember her, we remember ourselves, we sift through photos and letters. There had been a proposal to start clearing out Mom’s things but with everyone here together, in this state, that’s completely impractical. We’ll have to meet back up Stateside and deal with 68 Devonne Drive at some later date. Read the rest of this entry »
August 15th, 2009 by Steve
So we go to the Mary Wash. campus, the red brick and columned building which houses the Theatre Dept., on a brutally hot and humid afternoon, to remember our Mother, our Sister-in-Law, our Mother-in-Law, our Grandmother, our colleague, our dear friend. I am sweating like a pig, gushing sweat. Couldn’t even bring myself to dress properly, just a black t-shirt and my H@M pants from Milan, bought that first month we were in Italy. I am hung-over. I am dreading this. All the people we’ll have to see, talk with, cry with. Ted goes to the train station to pick up Sig. I help the Speras haul in stuff for the reception. Peg has made a beautiful dressing for the table with a small tailor’s dummy, fabric and buttons and bits of my Mother’s quilts. We have put the iconic photo of Mom crossing the Grand Canal in her goldolier shirt on a little card for the guests. Under the photo is printed a line from Romeo and Juliet, “O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” That was Ted’s idea. Read the rest of this entry »
August 15th, 2009 by Steve
So I have finished this writing, months after starting it and months more since the heart-breaking events I’ve recounted actually occurred. It was therapy. I know much has been left out, other things dwelt upon too long. To anybody who reads these words and didn’t know my Mother, check her out on the World-Wide Web. She had a fantastic career and should be remembered and celebrated for it, much as she doubted the significance of her own contributions. Read the rest of this entry »
March 2nd, 2009 by L A W R E N
I hate touching it, not because it is a skull, but because it gives me an immediate olfactory memory that is so …hospital.
January 10th, 2009 by L A W R E N
I had kicked myself for not buying this back in the Fall, but —woohoo— it was still at Di Tutto Di Piu’.
Half-off!
The real version, designed by Andrea Palladio.
December 6th, 2008 by L A W R E N
We stopped for coffee at ‘Pane e Aqua,’ just outside the gate from Rossana Orlandi.
July 28th, 2008 by L A W R E N
San Michele, with a stunning painting of four saints by Filippino Lippi (who won my heart in Rome with his works in Santa Maria sopra Minerva).
