Now back in New York, I was also back to work, and so had to get up early to face the blistering heat, sitting in front of two laptops to answer e-mails all day. Ugh. I'm sure my face was breaking out as I was sweating just sitting there, just dripping with sweat in front of my laptop. I don't think I did much beyond answer e-mails, but I think my company should be happy that they got even that much out of me in this heat. It definitely made me miss working in an air-conditioned office!
In the evening, I went with my parents for an early dinner at Patio Pizza, which is always my favourite place to go when I'm home. It's a community experience (being a local institution) and the food is my favourite stuff in town!
After dinner, I unfortunately got my other community experience, by going to the wake of my friend's aunt. It had all come as a huge shock, when this woman in her late-40's, the mother of two young girls, had all of a sudden collapsed and died a few days before. I felt so bad for her eldest daughter, who found herself celebrating her sixteenth birthday by going to her mother's wake.
Although I hadn't known my friend's aunt all that well (beyond attending her wedding when we were both in high school), this girl has been one of my best friends since the first day of kindergarten when we were five years old. Growing up I spent loads of time over at her house, and so know her parents and her entire extended family incredibly well, the way a childhood friend will.
So the wake was a somewhat surreal experience, because I was continually approached by people who looked vaguely familiar, but who I hadn't really known since I was little. Yet they all knew me, and greeted me like they'd known me since forever (which, I suppose they have), but of course as a small child you really don't make an effort to remember the grown-ups, you know?
In the end, I spent most of my time just talking to my kindergarten friend, who I got the impression just needed a bit of a distraction from all of the people constantly coming up and saying, "I'm so sorry for your loss." Obviously everyone is sad, but at some point there's only so much crying you can do. Hence, although I'm sure I was just chatting about the most inane stuff at a wake, I can only hope that I was doing the right thing and being a welcome distraction.
The wake itself ended at 9 PM, although I found myself hanging around until 10 PM, as I got so involved in talking with my friend and all of her family members who of course recognized me from when I was five. In the end, it was rather nice, because I've always been close to her family, simply by virtue of always having been hanging around her house when I was a kid. And so of course, I was still hanging around with her family now...
Finally though, it seemed like it was time for it to be just family, so I went home, glad at least that I could be there for my oldest friend at a sad time. Not the best circumstances under which to catch up, but it was still great to see her again!
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