Ellie...

My stepmother passed away early this morning. She had broken her leg very seriously in a fall in her apartment around Easter, and she was never able to recover; it was just one complication after another. So it wasn't totally unexpected, but it was still out of the blue when her daughter called me to let me know as I was rushing off to work today. I arrived at work in a daze and promptly turned around and left, with my manager's blessing.

She loved her independence and was very unhappy in the hospitals and rehab centers she was bounced around in for the past few months, plus she endured a lot of pain.

She was a very smart woman, loved to read. She was a Special Ed teacher and supervisor in the New York public school system. She had a quirky sense of humor, and had survived a lot in her life-- who of her generation hasn't? She loved animals, even though she wasn't in a position to own fur-babies herself. (She was always asking how my "children" were.) She was very open-minded and accepting of my sexuality and wanted me to be happy.

She was exceptionally caring to my father during the last part of his life, and I've come to be extremely grateful that she came into his life when she did. They truly loved each other.

I spent half of today trying to figure out if I could make it back east for her funeral on Sunday, but it was an impossible feat-- both financially and logistically. I finally decided I would just honor her memory in my own way here at home.

The above photo was taken during my last visit to New York in 2007. Ellie and I were waiting to go see the film "Into The Wild" which was an awesome film, though her comment at the end of it was that the young romantic/naive protagonist was "selfish" to have left his family like he did. Spoken like a true Mom! :-)




Here's me on the same day with my little Pre-Retail belly. Well, we ate huge meals all week long!

Thanks for reading, whoever's reading.........