Memorial Day II: Phase Two opening ceremony

On Sunday afternoon we gathered, a small but intrepid group: Diana, David, Edward, Debs, Heather (who later had to leave to go to work), Noelle, Lily (our youngest participant -- age two), and myself. Luckily, the forecasted rain had resolved itself to a tiny drizzle.


Not everyone could get gussied up, but Diana more than made up for it. Plus, she's an expert champagne pourer.


We kicked things off with the installation of my own plaque in the Winnemac Avenue alley, where it empties onto Carmen Avenue near Clark.


Here was the story I read:

Summer 2002. I was on my way to a 9:30pm rehearsal when I rounded this bend in the Winnemac alleyway. I looked up to see that the sky was this pure, deep, unbelievable blue, the kind that only happens on a late summer’s evening. And looking at that cool sliver of sky between buildings I had a moment of unadulterated angelic compassion for myself, one of those moments that is impossible to achieve willfully, where you treat yourself as you would want to be treated by others, with absolute and gentle kindness. I looked at that sky and thought everything’s going to be okay. It’s going to be fine. I didn’t attach the sentiment to anything in particular; it was just going to be fine in general. Whatever happened, I was going to be all right. For that moment, and only for a few blessed moments since that day, I truly believed it.

Reading my story to the group

A captive audience

After deliberation, we installed the plaque on the ground-floor window casing of a building on the south side of the alley (said window is behind me in the photo above). The criteria for installation, which became mandate over the course of the day, were 1) install the plaque somewhere it won't be immediately taken down by angry authority figures, particularly city officials; 2) install the plaque where it won't get too wet in the rain. (The adhesive on the back, while tenacious, is not 100% waterproof.)

Showin' off my plaque

My plaque, installed

After a pleasant swill of champagne, we moved on to Heather's ceremony.

A toast!