Aftermath

Yesterday's Celebration of Wendy's life went very well. Richard counted 97 people in attendance at the beginning; very few left before the end of the speeches and some came in late so the total must have exceeded 100. We had seating for about 100, and there were a dozen or so lined up along the back wall when I spoke. I was followed by Rebecca, David and Jonathan, then Dorothyanne, Peter and I think John Jr, both of whom read some of the condolence messages;after that, Rebecca opened the floor to all present to say something about Wendy. Many did, and many more were ready to speak when I decided to call a coffee break. I had been looking over the audience, many of whom were elderly, and some looked exhausted, ready for a chance to stretch their legs. I half hoped we might all reconvene for more words about Wendy, but everyone seemed so eager to mill about, look at the memorabilia we had brought, or look at the slide show that Rebecca's colleague Jodi Rowland had assembled, that we let the rest of the afternoon pass in that way. It gave me and others a chance to circulate, meet and mingle, thank people for coming. I forgot to mention that if anyone wished, they could visit the electronic Guest Book and add their remarks about Wendy to the 40 or more already there. I had also wanted, as a postscript to my talk, to remark on the two miracles of meeting Wendy: first, the miracle that we met, given that the chance of that meeting was so vanishingly small; and second, the miracle that she had remained unattached until then, when it was instantly obvious to me that she was such a wonderful person: everything everyone said yesterday adds further proof of my instant impression at our first meeting. After that meeting and several months of writing increasingly affectionate and intimate letters to each other, we had well over half a century together. Next Monday, February 14, Valentine's Day, would have been our 55th wedding anniversary. I am grateful that we had so much living, laughing, loving together.