Today is the last
first - the first anniversary of Irene’s death and the beginning of year
two. Looking back, it is hard to realize
that a year has passed. It seemed
appropriate to mark the end of the first year by interring Irene’s ashes today.
We had discussed
our desires years ago and both decided that we wanted to be cremated. I attended the funeral of a friend who was
buried at the National Cemetery outside of Eagle Point , OR Vietnam
In 2010, I learned
that the cemetery was building a columbarium.
Irene & I decided we would like to be interred in a niche
there. The columbarium was recently
completed, and I was notified just before Christmas that I could inter Irene.
It was a perfect “Reene
Day”. We had rain in the morning with
afternoon clearing, blue skies and puffy white clouds and a daily high of
around 50F. It was an afternoon that
would have found Irene in her garden wearing her grubby garden blue jeans and
flannel shirt, both with holes, covered in mud with a big smile on her face.
Given the valiant
fight Irene waged with cancer and the life example she set for many, it is only
fitting that she rest in a field of heroes as she is a heroine to many.
