I want to thank everyone who came to Patti's Memorial service on Wednesday.
What a crowd was there and filled to over-flowing with so much love and warmth for her. I was amazed and it goes without saying, highly pleased.
I just hope Patti was there in spirit so she could see so many who loved her.
For those of you who could not attend I will tell you that in spite of all the endless troubles in dealing with the ISD church to even have a memorial date set and then at the last moment on the evening before the memorial was to happen, we were informed that no eulogy was even going to be given, we all just "threw our hands into the air" (enough of this BS already!) and decided that it had now become truly and completely pointless to even have the memorial at the church.
(The old cliche' of that last straw breaking a camel's back might apply here.)
Then, with some fast and furious phone calling and emails into the late hours of tuesday night we all decided to go to the Lebonese Taverna only a mile or so from our apartment, to meet there at 3 pm the next afternoon.
It was a perfect choice. It could not have been better.
A large room (with stain glass church windows even!), tables for 50 people were moved to the outer perimeter of the room along with a buffet of delicious Lebonese cuisine.
On one of the tables we put Karla's large laptop computer to loop the slideshow that I put together for the occasion, along with a large photo of Patti and some smaller ones as well.
After perhaps an hour of standing and sitting and eating and socializing, a spoon rapping on a glass (thankyou Richard) as our call to attention.
It was then that Tom Esposito taking on the natural borne mantle of MC, brought our attention together to now focus on our memories of Patti and any story-telling of days gone by.
There was tears.. there was laughter.. there was specially written poetry and letters read. There was incredible love for our Patricia, from all who attended.
This was the real Memorial for Patti... and it was done with perfection and with class.
For those of you who could not attend or because of the last minute confusion I am truly sorry.
And I thank all of you who spent so much time and energy (and frustration) in making it work out as it should and in protecting me as much as you could. (Nancy, Judy, Ruthie, Barbara, Margaret, Karla..you are all magnificent!)
Supposedly there is being planned by the ISD church for yet another Memorial for Patti on the 15th of March, but who's to say for sure.
However.. in speaking only for myself, that memorial would be decidedly anti-climactic to the one that has already occurred and for it's worth, I will not be attending it.
I feel a certain palpable relief in simply returning to my own thoughts, sad as they may be, of my beloved wife, rather than the stress of yet another memorial with ever more and more problems to overcome.
The Memorial to Patti is done.
In the poignant written words from Margaret into the sign-in book at the Memorial:
I like that... I like it a lot.
