Monday, January 24, 2011

24/25-365 C'est la vie

I don't know what it says when you receive phone calls and texts from folks that essentially say "When I kick off, I want you to plan the memorial!" but it appears Kate's final send off was a hit. The right amount of pathos and humor, irreverence and humility. Our girl was a force of nature and we sent her out with a bang and a hell of a soiree! (She was originally from New Orleans, if that tells you anything about the evening.)

We had the "service", appropriately enough, at a theatre. Afterwords, about 60 or so folks came to my house for the "wrap" party. For those of you not familiar with theatre etiquette, at the end of the run of any show or filming, there is a wrap party for when you "wrap up the show/filming." It's a tradition. The MC of our event closed with these words "You get to be the star of one major show -- your own life. Thank you Kate. It was a hell of a run." And with that the audience rose to their feet and gave our Kate the standing ovation her live deserved.

Oh, that we can all call that our end.

But at the house we had food....
... and beverages (the booze was in a another corner),
And LOTS of great conversation!
And then the phone rang. It was my mother.
When my mother calls at 10 pm on a Sunday night the news isn't good and last night was no exception. No details, but as it turned out I had to sneak out the back door of my own party (leaving a couple of dear friends to help Vince clean up) and go to my brother's house for a family emergency.
The two sleeping angels in this pic aren't. Angels that is. The cat, who looks oh-so-sweet here, is actually the most obnoxious, demanding, and downright mean pussy I've ever encountered. The cherubic sleeping boy -- Dennis the Menace. But their lives both just got indescribably harder, in one fucking evening.

So I leave you all with a shot of Kate's flowers that I actually took this evening when I got home. Pink Tiger-Lilies. I thought they suited Kate.

Star in your own show, people. Life is always, ALWAYS fragile.

4 comments:

  1. The last few lines of your post - "Star in your own show, people. Life is always, ALWAYS fragile." - is so important. Thanks for reminding people of it. Seems like a fitting tribute to your friend.
    ~Emmy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope everything is okay with the family... sending some positive thoughts your way. You've had quite the 2011 so far. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm more of the Costello to my life's Abbot. Does that count?

    Ive bever liked Funerals. I like wakes and celebrations and drinking and laughing and remembering why ypu loved more than mourning the loss. This sounds like my kinda party.

    I'm sorry to hear of your family issues. I hope they resolve quickly!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your last line. I do hope things will be ok with your family.

    ReplyDelete