My father, Bertie, passed away in early June after fighting colo-rectal cancer for over five years.  He was a fierce and stubborn man who went out on his own terms surrounded by family and loved ones.  I was blessed enough to be able to spend several weeks with him this year (3 weeks in February, 3 weeks in March and a few days in June before he passed).  

My sister and I organized a lovely celebration of life.  We started out with a simple, but loving ceremony at St. Cross Episcopal Church. 

We all walked over to Kimberly’s house where we had a beautiful lunch catered for everyone.  We put together these fun and fabulous collages and Kimberly created the stunning floral bouquets. 

We had cousins attend that we have not seen in decades.  It was so much fun getting to know them again.

More friends and family

A few hours after the luncheon, immediate family headed to Long Beach.  We boarded The Angels Ashes boat called Orion and headed out into the bay.  We scattered his ashes in a sea of rose petals.

Slowly the tide took both the ashes and petals out to sea where hopefully my dad will protect us on our sailing journey.

Afterward, the Konis family and I went to have dinner at the Yard House.

A Time for Reflection

My good friend Kathryn took me to the Huntington Library.  They are famous for their amazing rose garden (my dad loved roses).  Also known as Bertie’s buds.

On the grounds they have beautiful bridges, sculptures, and nooks to hang out and reflect.

They also had gorgeous Chinese and Japanese gardens that too our breaths away.

It was a long and heartbreaking few weeks after he passed.  I know that is he is in a much better place, is no longer suffering, and is free.  But my selfish side just breaks.  I am so grateful for the time we had together.  I will miss you dad, aka Bertie.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  This blog posts occurred in early June.