Goodbye, Ellen (1958-2009)

My friend Ellen died in the middle of the night last night, at home, next to her partner Ruth.

I'll miss her. She made a good life and she had a good death, and I will miss her.

These are photos of her coffin, signed by only a fraction of those who loved her:

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Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa

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Originally uploaded by TokyorosaYou're wondering about those pink flamingos, right?

A few months ago, Ellen and Ruth came home to a yard full of those tacky pink plastic pink flamingos, one hundred and fifty of them, with a sign saying that they'd been flamingoed by a friend. The whole thing was a fundraiser for one of the local high school's orchestra. (The group charged $40 to sneak in and plant one hundred and fifty pink flamingoes, leave them for twenty-four hours, then sneak back and take them all away.) Ellen and Ruth were thrilled and immediately began a list of people they wanted to have pink flamingoed. Among others, they sent the pink flamingos to Ellen's oncologist and a nurse who took particularly good care of Ellen during her chemotherapy. It was one of Ellen's last practical jokes.

And this, written through tears, was my message to Ms. Ellen. (I always greeted her as Ms. Ellen!) I signed for Dave as he was working and the coffin was being taken to the funeral home before he could come by and sign.

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Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa