In Memoriam...

The year-in-review magazines are coming out, TV specials are airing, reviewing the best, the worst and the strangest things from 2011. Along with these looks back, they also dedicate a few pages or moments to say a final good-bye to people of note who have left us. Like during the Oscars, where the crowd watches images of the stars that now only shine in the sky, politely applauding as if offering up a last toast.

I'd like to take this space to offer up a little toast myself.


Audrey the Civic
Sept. 2000-June 22, 2011
I know, not a person, but still. I got her when she only had 11 miles on her, and she was shiny and green with a CD player and auto-locks. For almost 190,000 miles, she traveled the long and winding roads.


Daphne Marie
Feb. 21, 1999-July 26, 2011



My furry boo, who slept on my head. Her personality won me over as soon as I laid eyes on her, and she never disappointed. Daphne was very vocal, and had a comforting purr. She preferred plastic milk lids and hair elastics to store-bought toys, liked to curl up on the big red couch, and enjoyed Christmas because Christmas trees are magically delicious.





Margaret Mae Hitchcock Wathier
March 7, 1922-April 30, 2011



Our beautiful Margaret. Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She loved playing games, doing crafts and going to lunch with her friends. She liked Bridge and Scrabble and was cut-throat at Monopoly. She knitted lap blankets for patients at the VA hospital, made Christmas pins and ornaments, and had a surprising talent for drawing. She also enjoyed a nice vodka martini. On the rocks.





And the screen goes black to the sound of thunderous applause...