Anne

My 2014 IFJM character friend Anne, who is only a few years younger than me, is a lovely person. She's kind and gentle and thoughtful. She's very creative: she's an excellent photographer; she sews; she's a fabulous cook. She's also very organized.

Anne knew that we'd just had two wonderful 100th birthday celebrations for my father. One was a grand open house for friends, neighbors, and former colleagues that was held in a beautiful room at a nearby arboretum and the second, a few days later on his actual birthday, was a family dinner held in a private dining room at an inn where our family had celebrated special occasions before. (My amazing younger sister spent months arranging both of these.) When I told Anne that my father had died, she offered to make me a memory book. (She'd apparently made one for another friend of hers, not someone I know, and I have no idea what that one was like.)

Anne of course knows that most of us have mixed memories of loved ones but she said that I might want to capture some of the happy ones I have of my father. I was hesitant about how to do this until she suggested that she'd make a quick phone call to me every day and ask for one memory. She then grabs the closest writing instrument and jots down her summary of what I've told her in a composition book she had on hand that happened to have only a few pages already written on. She's also been adding sketches and ideas for the memory book which she plans to make when IFJM is over.