1) It is most definitely the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, featuring long days and late nights and Memorial Day Weekend at the office. This is not a complaint, just a statement of fact. It’s always been a part of the job, and always will be.
1a) As my responsibilities have changed, I no longer have to spend part of this week in creating printing, perforating, and sorting placecards with names and entrées on them. But I was the one who insisted on this necessary and helpful bit of table stationery 15 years ago, and I am so proud that good placecards continue to be a part of our events.
2) Time changes, too. Long days pass in a flash, but last Monday feels like it happened years ago.
3) And last Monday was not easy. I was present, while waiting for my bus, when someone fell to his/her death from the parking garage at Ruggles. I didn’t see anything, as I was seated facing the other direction and reading a Times article on my phone. But there was a loud sound - I can’t describe it except to say that it was not vocal - and then I noticed people near me standing and turning. And I stood and turned and saw someone lying at the base of a lamppost and understood that that person was dead. Everyone did. There was no screaming or panic - just shock. The police were there in minutes, followed by the fire department. A woman came up to me to talk; she seemed upset an ambulance wasn’t the first emergency vehicle there. And then my bus came, and there was talk on the bus among people who had been there and people who weren’t.
3a) Nothing about this has appeared in the papers. I can’t understand that. The T hasn’t responded to my inquiry with any information, just that my concern has been shared with the legal department and transit police.
4) I have certainly not had a daily devotional very consistently in the last couple weeks, but this morning I did. Proverbs 15 starts with one of Mother’s favorite instructions: “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” In the Lamsa Bible it’s “A soft word turns away wrath.” But then the verse continues: “But a harsh word stirs up anger.” And verse 2: “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright; but the mouth of the fool pours out curses.” Instantly I thought of yesterday evening’s outrageous news about the President being party to circulating a fake video about the Speaker of the House. “The mouth of the fool pours out curses.” Indeed it does!
4a) I am so glad I was able to take Mother’s Bible. The binding has been firmly taped together after much use, and it is filled with her marginalia and bookmarks. At the funeral the preacher commented on her inquisitive mind, and this is just one evidence of it.