Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Remembrance is a golden chain
 Death tries to break,
 but all in vain.
 To have, to love, and then to part
 Is the greatest sorrow of one's heart.
 The years may wipe out many things
 But some they wipe out never.
 Like memories of those happy times
 When we were all together.
    -- listed as "author unknown" at the five or six web sites where I saw it.

[Today will be the funeral for my aunt Adelaide. While perhaps none may miss her quite as badly as her children, many more of us will miss her as well.]

There is an article about my aunt in today's Washington Post. (I'll try to pick up a copy later as a souvenir, but if that fails, I have a printout-or-photocopy already.)

Several years ago, I got the idea that I could somehow cheat death a little if I could arrange for my last words to be something that few people could remember without laughing despite whatever sorrow they were feeling. Ever since, coming up with such a bon mot has been a sort of background project.

Now maybe this loses a little if you didn't know her, but this afternoon I learned that my aunt's last words were, "Holy moly!" I can't help hearing those syllables in her voice and thinking, "Hey, she beat me to the funny-last-words thing!" Gotta give her points for that.

I mentioned to my cousins that every time I try to picture aunt Adelaide in my mind, she's always laughing. (Also, as it turns out, in a lot of photos of her.) They agreed, that's how she appears in their minds as well.