A few final photographs from my visit to my sister in Washington, D.C. last week. These include one of 'Mr. Beau,' my sister's meticulously trained and truly wonderful Doberman, another of my sister, second cousin, step-father, and yours truly on the steps of the church outside Lexington, North Carolina just after our late mother's interment service, two of me solo at the National Cathedral, and a final one of my sister and me hamming it up during a long evening walk the day before I returned to Michigan.
My sister routinely walks to the cathedral, about three blocks from her place, to enjoy the grounds and gardens. The Bishop's Garden, in particular, is a place she likes to sit for quiet contemplation and internal dialogues with our late maternal grandparents and mother, very much in keeping with the Episcopal side of things. Our grandfather, who was raised Methodist, became an Episcopalian when he married our grandmother.
Before you ask, I am not sure that it involved the same degree of study involved for George Costanza to become Latvian Orthodox. Or whether the Kavorka was involved, but there were a few hoops our grandfather had to jump through before everything was signed, sealed, delivered, and her parents gave to OK for things to proceed.
Sadly, the final photograph of Sis and me is a little out of focus, but we had a marvelous day back in D.C. after interring Ol' Mom's ashes, just hanging around, playing Scrabble, laughing at great length, and going out for one last dinner together before my return flights the next day. Scrabble has always been a family favorite, and my sister is as sharp a player as was our mother.
It goes without saying that she won easily, but we had a great game and utilized almost the entire board before the tiles were all drawn. A long walk followed after dinner, and we did not arrive home until well after 9pm that evening where the silliness continued for another few hours over coffee and orange juice. As my sister remarked, with our mother now at rest with our grandparents, it was easy to relax, mentally and emotionally speaking, and enjoy our last evening together.
All things considered, it was a delightful week and, thanks largely to my sister, everything in North Carolina went off without a hitch. Mom would be highly pleased and happy for us, I am sure.
-- Heinz-Ulrich
Thank you, Heinz-Ulrich, for your recent posts. I am glad that you and your sister had such a good time together, and that you have some sense of peace with the loss of your mother. She sounds like quite a special woman, as indeed does your sister.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate your comments about Washington in your earlier post. There is an atmosphere of sophistication in at least some east coast cities that seems to be lacking elsewhere these days.
My wife and I lived in Washington for quite a few years and are hoping for a return visit next week if we can work it out. An afternoon at the National Gallery; a few meals at restaurants with tablecloths, good food and good service; a stop at J. Press; and, perhaps best of all, being around at least a few people who still manage to dress in something other than t-shirts, athletic shorts and flip flops, even in summer.
Hope your summer continues to go well.