Wake (4/2 - 4/3)

The next few days were pretty tough and everyone dealt with it differently. I threw myself into a major project: getting photos together for the wake. Mom's body just wasn't the way that we wanted to remember her. So, the family decided that we would honor her with pictures instead. I went through all the old photo albums and found some nice ones of her. Then I searched through all of my digital photos. Mom hated having her picture taken so I didn't have as many as I would have liked. But I put out an e-mail and lots of her friends sent them in to me. I edited, cropped, and framed them all with my Dad's help. I found it really therapeutic and it kept my mind from realizing that I would never see her again.

We held the wake on two nights. The first night, Wednesday, was attended by a huge group of my Mom's co-workers from UMASS. They were all so kind and comforting. So many of them told me how proud she was of me and how much she loved the family. I almost broke down a couple of times but I made it through both nights with the help of Dad, Shannon, and Kerry.