2 February 2010
I don’t know if the groundhog saw his shadow today or not. I was busy.
Normally, I would have paid attention to such news. But, today was the date set for the Memorial Gathering for Bert Pfeiffer. Kelly and John flew in from Ohio and I picked them up at the airport. We didn’t have much time to visit before we had to be ready to go. From 2 to 4 p.m. what had to be nearly 250 people gathered in a large room at a funeral home and found some flavour of comfort in our grief by being together. At about 2:30 the first person took the podium, told a story about Bert, and started the avalanche of the outpouring of memories. Any who wished to were invited to speak, and speak they did. The collective family of friends gathered spent the next hour and half both laughing and crying—and it was beautiful.
A large group of us descended upon the Yucatan Taco Stand for dinner afterward, and then Kelly and John and I returned home. It is so good to have them here with us. Family is so important and we are so blessed. Healing is a slow process, but it’s easier when the experience is shared with those we love.
