A Memorial

Friday, March 27, 2020: Last Monday, Governor Inslee ordered that no weddings or funerals be held. Today, though, he walked that back, at least part way. Funerals are now allowed but attendees are limited to immediate family. The about-face shows compassion. After all, some families are burying COVID-19 victims; they are in shock over the dramatic onset of this virus, as well as the loss of their loved ones. The ultimate insult would be to deny families an opportunity to grieve together.

Deaths not due to COVID-19 are less newsworthy, but no less sad. My neighborhood friend Sybil Knudson died at the beginning of the month and no service has been held for her. Sybil and I bonded over our love of gardening. It was our habit to walk the three blocks between our homes to pay regular visits to each other’s gardens to offer advice, spare plants, and a mutual delight in growing things. In June, she would admire the bright orange blossoms on my Chilean Fire Tree and I would admire hers. A relatively rare specimen, this South American import found a prominent spot in both of our gardens.

Sybil loved to see my Beauty plum tree, twelve feet tall and twice as wide, a cloud of white when in full bloom. I will always remember how Sybil would look at those blossoms and anticipate the plums she would help me pick. Sybil loved to make plum jam, and a jar of it would end up in my kitchen each year. 

I would like to tell her family and friends about our garden chats. But there will be no public acknowledgement of her life and what she meant to those who cared about her. My words on a page will have to suffice as my own memorial to my friend.

I live in Seattle and have time to think. Muse, even. Retired from research consulting and report writing, I now write about family history and life around me.

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