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ˈfōtō ˈfôrtˌnīt frīdē

December 23, 2022

For a while, with covid and personal circumstances, I had stopped going to the library to borrow books.

This month though I started going again. I ordered some books online and went to pick them up today and found out that my library lady had died a few months ago.

My age, with a college boy, for years, Regina and I shared our experiences together as women, mothers and friends. Even though we only ever met when we transacted books, we chatted and shared laughs and exasperations over our lives. (quietly of course- although perhaps not always so quietly… ssshhh!)

She went too young. I am devastated for her son. I want to belatedly honor her here today.
She was a lovely, kind, funny woman. I’m glad I thanked her in the past, but I wish I had seen her more recently and could once more. I was expecting to.

The link below is the post about ‘Checked Out’ a library book project I did, with Regina and fellow librarian Patricia, handling many hundreds of books, then and over the years, lots of them heavy, unwieldy photography and art books that threatened to put their backs out as they lifted them off the lowest ‘hold’ shelf to pass over the counter to me!

Regina, you are missed.

original post

Regina at NYPL 96th Street

The library notice I saw today.

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ˈfōtō ˈfôrtˌnīt frīdē

September 16, 2022

The nation has entered a period of official mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

You will see profound collective grief from the British in the wake of the Queen’s passing, and beliefs about the monarchy will be irrelevant to it. The Queen has been a persistent and unchanged presence for ALL of their adult lifetimes and Psychologists reveal how the monarch’s passing will also trigger a wave of emotional memories in people who’ve lost their own mothers and grandmothers as the discussions trigger particular memories, feelings, or unfulfilled wishes.