Walkabout

Mom made a huge spectacle of herself at Papa's funeral. She really never did stop loving him at all. I thought it was mighty gracious of Anna; she just kind of stepped back and let Mom steal the show. After all she told me later, Mom had her turn and Anna had gotten the home stretch.

Mom stayed in her house up until the very end. She kept herself busy in retirement, often talking to Papa as if he was still there. She didn't want to go to a hospital; she wanted to go in "their bed". Her last words were "I'm going to be with Tommy now."

We just got back from her funeral. Anna cried just as much everybody else. Poor Mom...

Postscript: I really did go to school with Junior, and his dad really did tend bar at Paoli's. Nobody I knew had ever done the soda taste test successfully. Only Junior's mom was able to reliably do it. Junior is gone now; he passed a couple of years ago. We were good pals, we even roomed together at college. Paoli's is still there.