passing . .

saturday morning, december 17th, at 10:13 am, my friend's mother passed away. she was at home with my friend sitting next to her. my friend said that her mother's eyes flickered once on her face, then looked away at something my friend couldn't see, then she smiled . . and was gone. i can feel the weight of the days leading up to this journey lifted from my friend's shoulders, and i can feel the joy in her eyes that her mother went so peacefully. it's not easy in this day to allow one's loved ones to go with such acceptance and quietude. and it took much work and courage on my friend's part to help her mom on this journey. i know she didn't do it alone. her sisters, husband and daughter were with her for every step.

today, laden with gingerbread cake and a large poinsettia, morgana and i made the trip to the bronx for the wake. we took the 2 train from 14th street to 180th street and then transferred to the Bx21 bus, which runs along morris park avenue, to john dormi and son's funeral parlor. her friend, deychen, was very glad to see her and introduced morgana to many of the neighborhood friends and family. some morgana knew from prior visits. i love this neighborhood of the bronx. my dad grew up here. i love the houses, the christmas lights, the madonna statues on the lawns. after talking with a former tenant of my friend's mother, and with her hair stylist (louise), we accompanied the three sisters and their friend patricia to their mother's house with the yew tree, located on haight avenue. when the house was first purchased, there had only been a dirt road. that's hard to imagine with all the houses and apartment buildings surrounding it now! patricia and i ran out to the bakery up the road for bread and olives, artichoke hearts with pimento, and potato salad, while the others put out prosciutto and mozzerella. we had the loveliest lunch and the talk centered on family events and relationships and the many beautiful pictures of their mother that were laid out on the piano. at 6:45 pm, morgana and i put on our coats to catch the express bus home, while our friends went to the second sitting.

maria gilda volino. june 7, 1923 to december 17, 2011. she was such a beautiful lady. morgana and i had many lovely talks with her when visiting with our friends. we'll miss her greatly.