the wake (lyn)

Tonight is Rose’s wake.  The funeral home is overflowing with people of all ages, from an infant to the elderly.  So many have come to pay their respects to an 85-year old woman who lived a strong life on her terms, and who, as many said, was a hard-worker, inspirational mother, and the best bargain shopper they knew.  I know only a few people (M’s good friends, her brothers and their families, and one cousin).  A stranger comes up to me and tentatively asks, “Are you Lyn?”  I have no idea who she is.  She says, “You don’t know me but I recognize you from the blog.  Congratulations.  You look great.”  It’s a sweet moment.  There’s a slide show of Rose over the years with her and her family.  M looks so different now than she does in the photos. M has many accomplishments (a full scholarship to Harvard, business school at Wharton, becoming the first female president at a Fortune 500 packaged goods company, her loving family and two amazing sons, to name only a few), and Rose was no less proud of M’s loss of over 70 pounds than she was of her other accomplishments .  She was a tough woman to please, but M and her two brothers did.  Over and over and over again.

After we leave the wake, V and I have dinner at a chic restaurant called Gargoyles that is in what used to be un-chic Somerville. I order and eat (as I have been all weekend) with no thought of Weight Watchers.