Yesterday I attended a beautiful memorial service for a good friend's mom: people laughed, cried, gave testimony to a life well-lived. At the repast, a tall actress-writer told my friend's WIFE that it was good seeing her, but she had wished it was under...[the actress' speech slowly became garbled and quiet and she didn't complete her thought]. My friend's wife stopped in her tracks, prepared to battle something that seemed to be mildly irking her nerves. She asked the tall actress what she was going to say. She then said: "You were going to say 'You wish it was under better circumstances.' Weren't you?" Then she added "I wish people would stop that. There's nothing bad about death. It's a part of life. It's a time to give testimony to life." The tall actress smiled embarrassingly but then agreed. My friend's wife is quite an amazing being: actress, singer, thinker, gallery owner. And I'm often revived by her candid "crack life open" approach to living. It reminds me of my own mother's "crack it open" motis operati. See, when it came to funerals: my mother was clear. She believed in wearing bright colors to funerals. She would say death doesn't have to be gloomy. Hard, sad, a "good riddance" even, but not gloomy. I gave my friend's wife a hug and she offered me some black eyed peas. I accepted the offer. And then everyone went on laughing, discussing, joking, eating. Living.

Until next time,

Keith