People, it is probably exceedingly obvious that I'm not terribly religious. I am also not a Catholic. As such, I found tonight's rosary extremely long, but even the Catholics among us found it long, so I think my lack of religion is not the primary reason for my feeling. Jack may have summed it up best when he asked, "why is she saying 'Mary' so often?" It was a fair point, but I replied, "well, sweetie, Nanny asked that one be said." Later, when I tucked him in, he said, "Mom, please don't ask for a rosary when you die." Even if you are Catholic, you must admit that that is funny. It's priceless in fact! I said, "you got it, partner!"

After four hours, I took Jack home. He was insanely patient and wonderful, and someone towards the end of things gave him $5 (she asked "who is this?" pointing at the fiver; he said "Abraham Lincoln," and she said, "it's yours) which thrilled him to no end PLUS he got to eat a usually-illicit bag of Cheetohs, but by four hours, it was time, so I took him home and tucked him in. He is such a dear honey.

Nanny did look good, and so many lovely and loving people came tonight. After returning home, I opened a good bottle of wine and made a giant kale sald with roasted tomatoes and goat cheese and talked with Dad for a while and am now off to bed in prep for tomorrow.

When the matriarch dies, does someone step in? Does the family line jump to another or something? What do elephants do, those giant, wise gray bags of matriarchal coolness?