WHAT AN INAUGURATION DAY

I'm still reeling from Inauguration Day. It seemed as though it would never come- I worried that something might occur before January 20--a new war somewhere or a cancellation of the inauguration itself for some strange reason. But it was all there, perfect, joyous, a day everyone could remember always. The main thing I wanted was the sight of George Bush getting in his helicopter and flying away, and all the bad things flying away with him. I hope he is happy in Texas, I wish him no ill will. My daughter and I watched the whole day together. She wore a shirt of my husband's which she said smelled like him. I don't know how this could be, since it has been two years since he died, but she swears that is so. Anyway, we wanted him to share in the moment because he would have loved it so.

My husband's gravestone is in a little town on the northern California coast. I don't get to go up there very often-only if I go to San Francisco and rent a car. The last time we went, we took a jar of dry martinis, two olives, and two golf scorecards that he was particularly proud of. We poured the martinis on the ground and left the olives and the cards on the stone. The sexton of the cemetery sent me a picture of the grave with a Christmas wreath on it. The olives were gone, but the scorecards are still there. Some little animals must be happy.

I would like to write about this little graveyard someday because it is where Nicholas Green is buried--the little boy who was murdered in Italy, and whose parents saw that all of his organs were donated to Italian children, beginning an organ donation movement in Italy for the first time. The cemetery is very rustic, and one can imagine cows and sheep wandering around Maybe they ate the olives.

At any rate, I hope we all get an infusion of good feeling and hope for the future with our new President. It was a wonderful day.