Carol Lee Pace, RIP

On Friday, March 12th, my cousin Carol Lee Pace passed away in Phoenix after a long illness. On Monday night, my sisters and I rendezvoused at Sky Harbor Airport for the memorial service to be held the next day. The three of us stayed overnight in a single suite at the pleasant Homewood Suites.

The memorial service was nice, even though the occasion was sad. I will miss Carol Lee's humor and presence: at the service I mentioned how she was like a little sister to my mom, and a big sister to me. Despite her absence from the memorial service, Carol Lee was unusually thoughtful regarding our needs for the day: she arranged for and paid in advance for the flowers. She also arranged to donate her body to science. Several of us, in a moment of gallows humor, speculated that she would end up as a crash test dummy: I mentioned this scandal and suggested other fates. In any event, her ashes will be returned in a few weeks.

It was great seeing my sisters, my two aunts, and numerous cousins (although I did miss seeing my art friends Deborah, James, and Doug on this quick trip). Cousin John seemed unusually attentive - I guess we all need to pay closer attention to each other from now on.