RIP: Susan Palermo

Susan Palermo died peacefully at 7:24 am today. Her long, long journey through the horrors and realities of glioblastoma multiforme is over. Her fiancé Ed had been holding her as he'd wanted to be doing when the time came. He got up to use the bathroom and in the moment he was gone, she went, too. So many dying people wait for a moment when their loved ones are out of the room; that may well have been what happened here.

Bill Wagner was there last evening until 2:30 am. I'm glad he had a last chance to say goodbye, and that Ed had calm company through several of Susan's last hours.

To the best of my and Ed's knowledge, all funeral arrangements are yet to be made. Ed thinks the funeral will most likely be at Susan's church, Holy Name of Mary in Valley Stream, NY. Ed asks that the call go out for musicians; he wants there to be music and, in particular, he wants someone to perform Susan's song, "Ordinary Girls."

The video only shows a few hints of Susan's radiant smile. I'm thankful Ed has photo albums full of that smile in his company, in the company of so many of her friends. The images shine with vibrant life. They shine with Susan.

Much as we've known this was coming, the reality is different. It always is. As I wrote to Susan's friends this morning, may the coming hours and days treat us all gently, gently as we grieve, as we go through the full spectrum of emotions that accompany death. For me, there's relief that her long ordeal is over, that she no longer is confined to the physical realities of what GBM did to her body. There's profound sorrow for Ed's loss, for Bart's, for Rita's, and, yes, for my own, too. Susan's friendship was such a blessing in my life, in our lives.

Rest in peace, Susan. Except that typing those words reminds me how little they could possibly apply to the Susan I knew. She wasn't an ordinary girl in life, and I'm completely certain she won't be one in whatever afterlife brings her, either. And that is a Good Thing.

Sometime between late Sunday night and now...

...the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles online pre-staging of my application for a duplicate driver's license magically went from "you must complete this application in person" to "you can complete this application online."

I now have a second handy piece of paper to accompany my incident report from the 49th Precinct in the Bronx. This one says, "The requested duplicate license has been successfully processed [date/time]" and "You cannot legally operate a vehicle until you receive your duplicate license, unless you print and carry this e-mail with you. The bearer of this e-mail has successfully requested a duplicate Massachusetts license. The license is in good standing and is not currently expired, suspended, or revoked."

I am amused by the security regulations: "Federal privacy laws prohibit the [RMV] from printing the name, the driver's license number, or the social security number of the licensee in question on this receipt. M.G.L c90 sec 11 allows the Registrar to issue a receipt for the fees paid, which may be carried in lieu of your license for up to 60 days. A printed copy of this e-mail shall be deemed a receipt for the fees for the purposes of M.G.L. c90 sec 11."

Of interest to my fellow residents of the Commonwealth: "Sign up for our FREE RMV Reminder Service and receive an email, phone or text (SMS) message when your license is due for renewal. For more information, please visit RMV Reminder Service.

(The RMV stopped mailing reminders a year or two ago. It's clearly a cost-saving measure, and also a revenue enhancing one...a tax for the inattentive. As someone who's received reminders in the mail all her life, it would have been oh, so easy not to notice when my license is expiring. I'll be signing up for the email notification as soon as I have my duplicate license and can confirm its number.)

Onward. With a once-again legal driver behind the wheel.

I would have saved $25...

...if I'd waited for the mail.

Today's mail delivery brought a welcome envelope from a Good Samaritan. It contained all of the cards and non-monetary artifacts that were in the pocket wallet I lost Sunday afternoon in the Bronx. Well, all except the button mixed in with my change. I'm not worried about that, the $20-30, or the very worn out green leather pocket wallet itself.

I'm delighted to have my driver's license back, and my verified and approved Library of Congress Reading Room card, too. The two credit cards have been cancelled for days, but I'm still grateful to have the physical objects in hand much as that makes no difference in terms of the security or usefulness of the information they contain.

Plus, I am once again a card-carrying SMOF. Win.

If I'd waited a few more hours, I could have avoided the $25 fee for the duplicate driver's license. So life goes. It really is down in the noise and I remain very aware of just how easy I had it compared to having my entire purse with full-sized wallet go missing, or other completely-possible scenarios. My thanks go out to the anonymous person who mailed my cards and kipple to me.

So, I went to the grocery store...

...and this fresh turkey followed me home. (Cheeky of it, eh? I went in thinking that crab legs would make a quick'n'easy Thanksgiving Day feast.) The bird came with claims of no antibiotics, no pre-injected basting mix, and all vegetarian feed. I'm not all that convinced about the last bit, but galacticvoyeur showed me the taste difference between industrial turkeys and the less-processed ones. Ever since, if I'm going to go to the trouble of roasting a turkey, I pay a lot more attention to which turkey I roast.

Accompanied by fresh asparagus, boxes stuffing w/cranberries, a can of jumbo pitted black olives, a bag of cranberries, and the makings for a pumpkin pie...which cost considerably more than just buying a store-made pie. I've never before made a pumpkin pie, even if from canned pumpkin, but I have these yummu Penzey spices and am curious.

Tomorrow there will be turkey. And after that, there will be leftovers.