Saturday was an incredibly beautiful day in New England -- a gorgeous day that seemed specially arranged to say farewell to Lorilee Foley.
We got up before the day began, while it was still dark, chilly but clear. We showered, dressed and hit the road by a quarter to six and slipped through light traffic the whole way to Rutland, VT.
We arrived an hour or so before the memorial service at Trinity Episcopal and headed straightaway for the Bagel Cafe on Woodstock. One of the regular fixtures for a quick sandwich in Rutland for many years -- at least since we moved there in 1994 - we had a late bagel breakfast and hot brown water (known euphemistically as "coffee") before heading to the church.
It was standing room only that morning at Trinity -- more than 300 people turned out to say adieu to Lorilee. It was incredible to hear the family and friends tell stories of a young girl who became a woman and who never lost sight of herself or her priorities. Dan Foley gave a poignant and touching tribute to his wife. We were in awe not only of his poise in talking in such loving terms about Lorilee and their relationship together but that he did it with such eloquence as well.
After the service many of the guests gathered with the family at nearby South Station restaurant for a reception and we caught up with a few friends to chat about good times past and to come.
Susie and I left the restaurant sometime in the middle of the afternoon, stopping a the hospital ER so Susie could pop in and hi -- Janet was there as was Cathy and Janice and DJ and Harry, quite a few of the "old gang."
After catching up with the folks in the ER we walked back to the car and pointed the Mini back down toward Route 103 and I-91 and home.
After a long drive to and from south central Vermont we were in no mood to cook at home when we got back to Providence. So we walked across the street to Loie Fuller for dinner. And naturally we ran into Bill & Becky S. from Whitinsville. Why is that natural? It just is.
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