Paying Respects

We went to a wake tonight.

The mother of a very dear friend passed away this week. She'd been very sick for a long time, so her death was not unexpected, and the family is greatly relieved that she is no longer suffering.

Pippi went with us to the wake. Harry opted against the whole idea and stayed with his grandparents.

The woman who died was the grandmother of one of Pippi's classmates. She's known the boy since they were toddlers and are pretty good friends (as these things go in fifth grade, where the girls and boys don't associate too much with each other.)

I was very proud of her as she said hello to him and told him how sorry she was about his grandmother. The exchange didn't last much longer than that - but that's okay. It's a hard thing to know what to say to someone at a wake. A lot of people a lot older than Pippi have problems with it, and I was very proud of how well she handled the whole thing.

We didn't stay long at the wake. The room was crowded and we didn't know most of the people there. We paid our respects and chatted for awhile and then left. But I felt good that we had been there for my friend, and Pippi felt good that she was there for her friend, too.

Rest in peace Lauretta Cipolla.