Shirts

Shirts

Noel Laflin

7-11-19

Patty’s funeral is this Friday, but we are seven thousand miles away.

And as much as it pains David and me to not be there, we will honor the day by wearing pink and Hawaiian shirts here, even though we will be so very far from our gathered friends back home. Patty loved the color pink and her beloved husband - our old friend, Mark - loved wearing Hawaiian shirts.

But when I return, I will visit her grave, and Mark’s, often, as the cemetery is just on the other side of Santiago Creek, at the western end of Irvine Park. I spend a lot of time in that park, hiking its hills, absorbing its history - step by step - and photographing its birds, trees and wildflowers. As it is less than four miles from our home, it is another home of sorts.

So although I cannot say farewell to our young friend on Friday, I intend to say hello to Patty, and Mark, many times in the future.